MyFavorite Kinda blood would turn ya into a Zombie
by CHARbones
Summary: It’s the end of the world. Well, unless you have your zombie apocalypse survival kit, which, fortunately Uzumaki Naruto does. SasuNaru
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **ok. I'm certain I'm in over my head with this. My first Fanfic and it's Yaoi SasuNaru _Zombie_ fic? somehow I feel alittle overwhelmed. Sasuke Seme, Naruto uke. All of the first chapter will be in Sasuke's Pov. No Uchihacest... at all. I'm experimenting with the first person POVs here, Not sure if the entire story will be first person or if I'll have chapters from a diff perspective later on.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing

_Beta-ed by brokenseraphim _

_Updated –__5/23/2010_

-----Chapter 1 Sasuke POV-----

_We'll drink you under, the fucking table – When everyday's the Weekend. Asking Alexandria._

* * *

Feeling sick this morning, woke up to Megaman doing the rumba with Inuyasha across the floor. Fucking cosplayers. Head feels weird. Holy shit, they're still going at it, that couple in the corner… guy leaning against the wall looks kind of limp, maybe his girlfriend likes him better that way. _Gawd_ she's devouring his face.

I hate these parties, get smashed, wake up god knows where, to people sucking face all over the apartment. I blink owlishly, bemused. There's wailing shrieks over the pounding blood rushing in my ears, sounds like fire engine sirens. Ahahaha where's the fire gents? In my skull.

I finally come to realize that I'm lying under a table. Crawling on my hands and knees amongst bottles and crusted paper plates, I hear someone choking, sounds like someone's hacking up a lung. It's pretty hazy in here.

Standing shakily, I feel like the next step I take will send me head over heels. _F__uck _this is why I hate random parties. My jeans feel like they grew into my skin and stink like whatever I was drinking before I passed out under the table. I hear a gasp, and I wonder if the girl sucking face found her way into the guy's pants. I take a few wobbly steps and almost immediately I'm crashing to the linoleum on my back. I groan as my head smacks the floor, and a weight presses into my torso.

"FUCK!" I holler. The girl spews out warm greasy wetness all over my neck and chest, while trying frantically to pull me against her. Something smells awful and her eyes are bloodshot. I finally throw the intoxicated lady against a passed out guy sprawled on the floor, I manage to stand and wipe my face on my sleeve before she rams me to the ground again. She's gasping, sounds like she smokes too much. I wrestle to push her face away from my skin, scrambling with her hands. I've had enough, she's drunk, I'm pissed, my fist connects with the side of her face. She goes down hard and spasms against the floor, her tank top riding up against her bony chest, something's off about her. Something… my head is killing me. I've had enough and I'm jogging out the graffiti plastered door and down the trash strewn hallway before you can say, "Buy me a boatload of aspirin."

It's bright out here. Wind's barely noticeable but lazily soothes the autumn leaves to fall. I shove the smelly hoodie with one sleeve dirtied by the girl's barf over my head and throw it in a trash can. Why the hell did I go to that party? I need a shower. I need to find the nearest drug store and buy myself some painkillers and some sugary nondescript caffeinated drink. I need to go back to campus and check my schedule.

I stop and groan. My cell should have been in that hoodie.

After digging my cell out of the foul clothing and _re-_discarding the soiled thing, I flip the phone open and check the time. Almost four in the afternoon, I seriously need to shower. I'm pretty certain I don't have classes 'til six, which is due to the lazy ass professor coming in late everyday for _his_ class that should start at five thirty, but hey, I'm not complaining.

He's a genius of sorts. It gets on my nerves that someone can be _that_ smart and _that_ late and still exude an aura of 'I'll do whatever the hell I want and get away with it effortlessly' while being immaculately modest. While I inexplicably regard him with respect, I also find myself wanting to super glue his desk drawers shut or feed his tie to a paper shredder while it's still attached to his throat. I have my reasons.

"Careful Sasuke, your Uchiha is slipping." Speak of the devil. Leaning casually against his black Mercedes, is tall, dark, and annoying with a steady smirk stretching across his pasty face.

"Sure, and yours screamed bloody murder then keeled over and died when it realized who it was trying to repress." I almost held that in, almost.

He raises an ebony eyebrow and opens the passenger side door.

"A compliment, from you little brother?" I grimace. His dark grey eyes crinkle in a smile that doesn't quite make it to his lips. "Regretfully, I cannot return the favor. You look like shit." Feel like it too. I slump into the offered seat, the door shuts and I watch warily through the windshield as he makes his way around the car to the driver's door.

Ah, throughout my short 18 years of life, he has never failed to be there. On my sixth birthday he _gleefully_ fed my prized possession, the red plastic power ranger, to the lawnmower. The proffered excuse was he was making sure the lawn was thoroughly trimmed for my party. _Enthusiasm_… the undoing of all toys and personal items I'd foolishly left in the yard? No. The suspicion that my brother lived to make my life miserable was realized when the Styrofoam deluxe model plane that hadn't left my room since its messy triumphant completion was found in tiny pebbly snowy bits gently being carried off down the street by the breeze. That day I realized two things. One, my brother was the devil, and two, he was _out to get me_.

Back then, I'd been utterly perplexed. What had I done? Why did he hate me? Eventually I'd realize that it is a matter of principle. I _am_ therefore he ridicules, degrades and downright breaks my spirit on every occasion he deems it worth the effort.

Any further reminiscent musing flies out of my left ear due to my head cracking sharply against the passenger door window as my brother curses and jerks the driver's wheel spastically. Spastic, that word in the same sentence as my older brother can only mean life threatening situations or the world's ending, both of which could cause anyone to go into a convulsing twitch fit. My brother is nothing if not graceful. Dazed, I blink away stars and regain slight awareness in time to discern my brother cussing up a storm.

"Idiots, fucking imbeciles, they'd give anyone a goshdamn license in this state. Driving on the wrong side of the road, you motherfu-. "

Ok. _He_'_s_ fine. I check for whiplash by slowly flexing my neck, something pops bringing me an indescribable amount of relief and I exhale my gratitude in the form of a low moan.

My brother stops mid curse word and glances at me with an expression I can only conclude as worry. The weirdo, you don't spend half your waking hours trying to make my life miserable only to worry about me when something like this happens. The evil bastard, sends mixed messages, and only acts like an older brother when the mood suits him.

"You alright Sasuke, I thought I heard something crack…"

I choose not to answer, and instead focus on my inner monologue darkly while glaring out the window Oh I'm fucking dandy, Sunshine and Rainbows.

A sound not unlike a building exploding rips both of our attention to the rearview mirror. After gaping for a few minutes, I turn around in my seat and lean over the armrest to get a better view out the rear window. My thoughts are running along distorted broken lines, and I'm sure that ugly blue Toyota didn't deserve to be melded to the telephone pole despite the fact that it recently tried to kill us. I turn back around in my seat and tilt my head slightly to the side as my eyebrow's rise up.

We never eat at Denny's. We don't even buy soft drinks here, so why are we currently parked in a Denny's parking lot? I give an utterly bewildered glance at my brother, who just settles back into his seat and stares straight out the windshield, blinking every now and then. We sit in something near companionable silence for a few minutes till it's broken by sirens. I close my eyes and exaggerate a wince by crumpling my forehead and tightening my eyelids together slowly. I'm suddenly remembering my headache.

The noisy wails of cop cars and ambulances is getting nearer, I turn my head lazily in my brother's general direction and mutter, "Got any aspirin?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors note**- Naruto in this chapter! He is so much fun to write. I suppose I should warn about the absolutely OOC Rock Lee. But there is a reason. For clarification, this chapter is completely Kakashi's POV. I'm thinking about making the next chapter in Naruto's POV.

**Disclaimer **- I own nothing.

_Ah, I breathe_

_new meaning to the word_

_Deceased~!_

_how slight and sudden_

_so much blood_

_such relief_

_Ah! the chase_

_oh the sight_

_they're running for their lives_

_through the rain_

_and the splashes of mud._

_pass the flames_

_and the dead,_

_run those who didn't stay down._

_silly anger_

_just learn to run run run run_

_learn to hate them_

_not to blame them_

_why didn't they stay down?_

_soaking up all that fate in doses of two._

_two days we're lost in bodies_

_two nights wide awake desperate breathes_

_two hands melded into each other._

_two hearts fluttering two mantras_

_don't let go don't let go don't let go_

_don't die don't die don't die_

_and then on the third day there was one._

_and despair_

_don't speak don't speak don't speak don't breathe._ - _**scrawled across the sidewalk in chalk and blood, 2 months after mass infection.**_

-----------------------------------------------------**Chapter 2**

"Do do do do do do, ooh ye-ah." Warbled across the field, his slightly gravelly voice wavered amidst the crackling and popping of the burning turf, I smirk under my face mask, recognizing the tune. He never disappoints to find music to fit his situation... or not. I've come to realize, he just likes to sing.

"-The man in the crowd with the multicolored mirrors On his hobnail boots, Lying with his eyes while his hands are busy Working overtime-" He steps into my sight past the thick column of smoke, blonde hair swaying as he bobs his head and hums the instrumental.

"Mother Superior jumped the gun- Mother Superior jumped the gun- Mother Superior jumped the gun." He turns to face me with a lazy smile, cocks an eyebrow, his arms stretch wide on either side of him and he crows-

"Happiness - is a warm gu-huuu-un! Happineh-eh-ess is a warm gun, momma-!" Ino harmonizes from her crouched position, never raising her pale blue eyes from her work,

"-Bang Bang Shooh-oot Shoot!"

Naruto, engulfed in the song, sways his hips clenches his eyes shut and throws his head back,

"Happiness, is a warm-yes it ii-ees- guuu-uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!"(1) A wire is tripped and a mine explodes halfway down the field, I hit the dirt with a grunt, arms cover my head, we're showered in bits and pieces of meat, droplets of blood, dirt, rocks, and pieces of earth held together by white and yellow grass. (Not in that order)

"GOSHDAMMIT! ZOMBIE MAN!" Naruto howls. I slowly push myself up on my elbows. Naruto's narrowed blue eyes spark between amusement and annoyance, nonchalantly still standing, he turns to me, pouting. "Somehow that made me feel upstaged." I notice he inexplicably has a purple and orange polka dotted umbrella opened over his head, _that wasn't there three seconds ago_... not a drop of blood on him.

Nonplussed, I glance around to check the individual positions of my fellow non infected survivors. Ino- short corn silk blonde hair tied up in a black handkerchief, pre-zombie shower, had been working on the homemade explosives; she was brushing dirt and gore off the corked Molotov cocktails, carefully placing the cleaned ones side by side. Lee- grey overalls rolled up to his knees, combat boots with the rainbow (courtesy of Naruto) laces messily tied sat in the back of the truck, checked the guns over and took stock of the ammo. Last but certainly not least, Naruto- vibrant colors, hair looking like someone had spun it out of sunshine, blue crystal eyes, depths shining as unpredictably as the sea on a cloudy day...tripped over his umbrella he'd been swinging by the handle in lazy circles.

Naruto... ah Well, he was insane when I met him.

I'm slowly starting to believe in him. Haven't quite figured out how he's survived the past four months... but then he does something out of character, like suggesting a combustible blockade on the fourth floor of our old apartment building. Plan of action- Lure (run for your life) the infected to the top floor, set off the' silent' evacuate alarm (drop a match into a bucket of firecrackers) and light the fuses that ran to the homemade napalm and gasoline situated in tarp sacks hanging from the ceiling. He knocked man sized holes in the walls between apartments and blocked off entrances into certain apartments so the only way to access some of the rooms was the entrances he made, this allowed us to reach the fire escape no matter where we were in the building without having to worry about where the infected could come from. He also set up multiple escape routes that led to normal ways of escape or you can jump from the metal patio on the second floor onto the roof of the McDonalds next door and escape through the hole he sawed through the ceiling down into the diner's kitchen.

Well it worked. We got out alive, the apartment and infected within burnt to the ground.

Foresight, he's got it, somewhat. Grace- not so much.

Focusing back on my work, I hear his voice, suddenly uncharacteristically dull,

"Fire doesn't cleanse, it blackens."

I glance up at Naruto, standing in a relaxed stance leaning against his umbrella, his blue eyes half closed, staring off into the direction of the explosion. His eyes slowly slide to meet mine, and his lips stretch into a sheepish grin.

"Silent hill. I was suddenly reminded of that movie."

I quirk an eyebrow,

"Understandably, we've been provided with gore, monsters, fire and death. That aside, we're trying to set up camp here, Naruto. You're supposed to be keeping watch." Naruto sighs and turns back to the flamed barricade smothering one half of the field, another of his ingenious sudden ideas, the flames and smoke hid us from view and normally the infected liked to stay away from fire.

"I _am_ keeping watch. I saw that zombie coming before he went and exploded." I finish with the wire, cut the excess with the heavy metal pliers and stand.

"Saw him coming and said nothing. Wow, way to keep your friends alive. Let me guess, you were evaluating the zombie's potential, like with fred."(2) Naruto 'tch-ed' dismissively and walked forwards to examine the wire.

"Fred was a massive success, before you guys went and killed him. I was learning so much. I _learnt_ so much."

Naruto's slightly whiney rant was cut into by lee's low emotionless voice,

"To what end, Naruto? Are you going to figure out a cure? As soon as the infected bite someone and their saliva enters the blood stream, we usually only have about nine or ten seconds before we lose another comrade to infection and gain a new threat. Keeping Fred was counterproductive to surviving. The only things you've told us about what you've learned from fred is that apparently the infected's slight cognitive loss is due to the virus attacking their nervous system, like an animal with rabies."

Lee inspected a 30 round AKM clip before sliding it into the metal ammunition box and closing it with a clunk. He looked up at Naruto and frowned.

"How does that help us, at all? So we know it's like rabies, why it's so easy to get infected when bitten because they don't swallow their own saliva, does that knowledge help us survive? Does it prevent you from killing them, hold you back from protecting yourself because underneath their crazed homicidal fronts they're just sick humans." Naruto looked slightly mollified; he stood for a few minutes in silence with closed eyes and said softly

"I... I would never let you guys get eaten. I wouldn't willingly get myself bitten either. When it comes down to it, you guys or them, I'd definitely choose my friends." He opened his eyes, smiling he turned to lee.

"C'mon eeyore, you don't honestly think I'm stupid, do ya?" Lee snorted and went back to organizing the ammo.

"You're more reckless than stupid Naruto." Ino smiled warmly, walking up with an armload of her explosives to store them in the truck bed.

"Don't get so caught up in pitying the zombies that you let yourself get hurt."

Ino and Naruto, are the only two who refer to the infected as zombies. I suppose it's because they still have a problem with killing them. Ino doesn't fear them enough, that will change over time. Naruto however, well... as I said before, Naruto is just insane.

"Well I've been thinking 'bout- All the places we've surfed and danced and- All the faces we've missed SO let's get- Back together and do it again"(3) Naruto's singing again. Ino sits on the back of the truck and hums along, legs swinging, Lee's head bobs back and forth almost imperceptibly and Naruto's grinning like mad as he sways to the beat in front of his friends in the truck.

"Dooo do dooo DO do dooo!!" Ino giggles before jumping up from the truck bed. The side of Lee's mouth is quirked up and he's watching Naruto and Ino dance around each other giggling and laughing while trying not to trip over each other's feet. I can feel my face set into a comfortable grin. Naruto, amidst all of this, brings us so much peace, and reminds the other two that it's ok to act carefree, enjoy their youth.

I sound like Gai... I grimace and run a hand through my prematurely grey hair.

"If you guys are finished, I'd like to scout out the area before calling it a day. Lee and Ino did it in the last town, so this time it's you and me Naruto." Naruto stops moving abruptly, Ino slams into him and both of them to tumble to the dirt. Ino's head shot up and she craned her neck to talk to me.

"Kakashi, we're low on water. And Naruto and Lee used up the last of the gun cleaning solvents last week. We had to use the shotgun a lot in that forest while it rained, I dried it immediately after but had to strip the lubricant off and we didn't have enough to re-lube it completely-"

Ino carried on, looked like she was ticking off a list in her head so eventually I just had her write down what we needed. Naruto asked if we could pick up some cup ramen as we slid into our underarmour(4) shirts. I pause, to appreciate the undershirts. Damn fine shirts.

Naruto looks unhealthily tiny in his form fitting long-sleeved black shirt. He's small for his age though he's developed a four pack over the previous months. Running from the infected is good motivation to keep in shape. Me and surprisingly, Naruto, take extra care to make sure that we are never low stocked on food. I suspect Naruto just doesn't like going hungry. He was a little pudgy when we first met him, but the past four months have stripped all fat away, leaving only muscle and bone. His structure is small, long legs, hairless chest and face. If I didn't know I'd get punched for it, I'd almost describe him as feminine.

"Well? Can we?" oh yeah, I forgot he'd asked a question.

"We're supposed to go to a grocery store anyways. If we see some we'll pick it up. Ah, and Naruto, four or five boxes will do, no need to take all they have stocked."

He enthusiastically began stretching, I following suit, it's a good idea to warm up before heading out. Never knowing what will happen; your fore-instinct should be caution. We finished up and start assembling and donning our other equipment. Elastic forearm protectors and Nylcot jackets, we wear jean cargo pants and boots, Naruto placed his dentist face mask over his nose and mouth, every precaution being taken, and we finish getting dressed. I waver between the glock and a rifle. Naruto without hesitating picks up a rifle and slings it over his back while placing ammo in his pants pockets. We won't need much, we're more likely to distract any infected we find with a flare and escape than actually engage them, but if there's only one or two in the stores we need to visit... well.

"mmKakashi, you should take the glock." Naruto spoke from beside me, steadily loading his rifle. He slid five small bullets down into his gun and clicked the safety off and on before cocking the metal handle in the side of the gun back and forth, which placed a round in the chamber ready to be fired. He finished by checking his safety, then turned and smiled expectantly at me through his mask.

I don't spare him a glance as I pick up the semi-auto pistol and start loading it. He makes a noise like he's repressing a snort while giggling, Sounded painful actually.

"Be careful you guys." Lee's monotone and Ino's chirpy voice in unison see us off.

* * *

We follow the main road through the desolate town, staying in the shadow of the buildings, constantly checking each other's position. First store we hit is the gun store, or more specifically, the army surplus store. It was vacant, and predictably, most of the weapons and ammo had been cleared from the broken glass littered display cases and gun racks, but we didn't need the guns so much as the brushes and bottles of gun lubricant that were in abundant supply near the counter. Naruto exclaimed over a neon orange hunting jacket, I cut that idea down before it took hold in his head, telling him there are equally easy ways to advertise his presence, least of which banging pots and pans together while singing the national anthem at the top of his lungs. He gets my drift and leaves the reflective jacket on the rack with a regretful parting glance.

The hardware store is well supplied and almost untouched, furthering my belief that people are idiots. We're nearing the back of the store, Naruto tugging lightly at every display doorknob screwed to the wall he sees. Sometimes I worry that this kid is OCD. He just up and does things randomly, giving no explanation at all. Sometimes, I can figure out his reasoning, but more often than not, he does something that has me double taking so fast I develop whiplash.

I haven't come across any saw blades, last item to find and we're done here, next stop, grocery store. I walk cautiously to the door labeled _'only store personal beyond this point'_ there should be saw blades in stock in the back. I spare a quick glance back at Naruto, he's standing by a nail gun display, blonde hair falling around his face, blue eyes examining the sign boasting the durability of the low priced item.

I whistle lowly, his eyes jerk away from the sign and rest attentively on me, I motion to the door and hold up my hand with four fingers raised. He winks his understanding and clicks his rifle's safety off bringing it to his shoulder steadily. He'll stay, cover the front while I go inside the store room, if I'm not out after four minutes, he'll follow me in. Hopefully, I'll just have gotten lost in the dark room. I raise the Glock to my hip, slowly opening the door.

Living like we have the past four months, you develop instincts, quirks, I suppose I have to admit we've all gotten a little ocd, but these habits help keep our mind calm, our senses on the present, our thoughts clear. One of mine is instinctively sniffing the air for the smell of gasoline upon entering foreign territory, and over the weeks, I've eventually been able to distinguish the metallic scent of blood.

I don't realize how much I've tensed up upon recognizing _that_ scent until I try to take a step forward and stumble. My legs are painfully locked and I'm forced to take a few minutes to calm down, I can feel Naruto's gaze on me. I straighten my back and turn my head slightly to the side to reassure him, giving him a slow nod to confirm and convey, _be calm, don't panic, be wary- Watch out_. My eyes don't leave the dark opening; I can barely discern towering metal racks holding planks of wood and whatever else they'd have in stock back here. I'm watching for any movement as I slowly step into the room, I slide a black metal flashlight from the depths of my back pack and keeping the head pointed at the floor, flick it on. The beam uncovers a sawdust littered floor, boot prints and what looks like dog prints outlined into the sawdust, _just great_. An infected dog is about five times worse than any infected human.

I allow myself to breathe a little quicker, feel the adrenaline start pumping in my veins; I might need that extra kick to my reflexes. I slowly make my way through the cavernous room, stepping lightly, breathing quietly, I step from behind a shelf into a sliver of light shining almost blindingly to my eyes that had adjusted to the dark, I turn my head away and blink a few times to clear my vision. I place a hand to shadow my eyes and peer in the direction of the offending light; I just barely grasp the realization that I'm looking at the outline of a neck and a torso before I'm slammed into a shelf, flashlight and gun flying who knows where, wood digging into my back. I grunt and struggle against the forearms keeping me pressed tightly back by pressuring my neck and abs, panic and adrenaline speeding my heart, I realize there are voices frantically shouting as I try to bring one of my legs between those of my attacker. He's tall, well built, and obviously not infected or I'd have been bitten by now.

"Stop! Itachi, Stop it! He's not infected!"

"That doesn't make him not a threat."

I understand that there's two separate voices from behind the man trying to asphyxiate me, both male by the sound of it. I've succeeded in bringing my leg between my attacker's, unfortunately he notices and twists my body around to slam me face first into the wall on the right side of us. I groan, I can feel warm blood trickling down my lips and chin from my nose.

"Itachi!" a warning shout, then a more familiar voice, though the tone unfamiliarly cold and commanding made chills run up my spine.

"Let go of Kakashi." I feel the pressure on my back lift, and I turn around shakily, bracing myself with one arm against the wall. I bring my other arm up and cup my nose. Yep, it's Naruto. There he stands in the shadow of the stocked shelves, blue eyes narrowed, rifle pointed at the man named 'Itachi'.

Naruto's eyes cut at the two standing in the light, his voice still chillingly devoid of his usual cheerfulness.

"Who are you, why'd you attack Kakashi if you knew he wasn't a zombie?" One of the males snorted. The other brought his hands up and in a guilt laden voice babbled

"We're sorry, it's just, you know, with the infected you have to strike first and he just came out of nowhere and we hadn't heard him walk up or anything and usually it's only the infected that surprise you like that, and-" he was cut off by the other male, who crossed his arms and growled out

"We won't hurt you or 'Kakashi' moron. Stop pointing that gun at my brother." Naruto's eyes widened slightly, he turned his gaze back at the man standing beside me and, wouldn't you know it, the little idiot smiled.

"Sorry, just making sure. Kakashi, that's alot of blood! Here, hold still and I'll-" He swept his backpack off and bent down to dig around in it, emerging with a bottle of disinfectant, medical tape and cotton gauze, He grinned up at me and trotted over, ignoring the three men who stared at him. I stand nonplussed at his sudden bipolar mood swing and let myself be patched up, keeping an eye on the three. Itachi walked over to stand by his, I'm assuming, younger brother who was one or two inches shorter but had the same dark eyes, ebony black hair and equally pale complexion. I examined each of the three at my leisure while Naruto cheerfully bandaged my nose, humming another random song while he did so. Honestly, this kid has no fear, but even as I thought that, I could feel myself relaxing. Naruto was humming, smiling, somehow, that made things relatively ok. Naruto peeked up from his work to glance at the three, sending them a curious glance and a question.

"What's your names?"

The babbler stepped forward, a concerned look in his coffee brown eyes,

"Um, I'm Iruka Umino, would you like some help with that? I'm really sorry-"

Naruto waved his hand dismissively, he'd finished and was placing the medical supplies back into the backpack. I reach up and tentatively touch the neat bandage on my nose.

"No need, all done. You all right there Kakashi? I don't think it was broken, just smashed pretty good." I blink steadily for a moment, gathered my thoughts, then allowing myself to smile down at the beaming Naruto I answer,

"I'll be fine." I turn my gaze to the two mute brothers, both pairs of their coal eyes were trained on Naruto.

Oblivious, Naruto stood and slung the backpack back around his shoulder, held a hand out to Iruka and smiled his 'I'm not entirely certain what to do now, so I'm just gonna wing it' smile. Iruka's answering smile was gentle and hesitant, but he firmly shook Naruto's smaller hand. I find myself slowly appraising him, noticing his eye color is the same as his shoulder length hair which is pulled back into a spiky ponytail.

"It's nice to meet you, despite the circumstances." He turned his ponytailed head and warm brown eyes to glance at me and my mouth develops a mind of it's own.

"Naruto and I are just passing through; we're heading to the grocery store next to pick up some things then we'll be heading back to our camp." Naruto glances at me, one fair haired eyebrow raised in surprise at the question I'd hinted in my sentence… hell I was a little surprised myself.

In this world, the more does **not** make the merrier, the more people In a moving group at once, if anything, makes you a bigger target, more backs to watch, more people to worry about getting infected at once. But even as I berated myself, I could see with a sinking feeling the gears whirring behind Naruto's azure eyes, and when he jerked his head up, eyes shining victorious, blonde strands flailing as he turned and grinned approvingly at me, I knew I was sunk. I couldn't take back the offer once posed, especially where Naruto was concerned.

Iruka looked slightly confused, he kept turning to glance uncertainly at the two figures behind him, said two looked like they were contemplating the offer.

"Do you guys have any weapons? I don't think we should all go to the grocery store at once, but I could take two of you back to the campsite and one of you could go with Kakashi." Naruto crowed excitedly, again I'm surprised at how clearly and thoroughly he thinks at times.

Itachi slowly nodded his head and for the first time he spoke in a low voice,

"I'll accompany you to the grocery store, my little brother and Iruka will go to your camp, Naruto. We don't have any firearms, if that's what you mean." Naruto nodded and without hesitating handed a slightly surprised Itachi his rifle. While absently digging around in his pockets for the ammo he placed his backpack into Itachi's unoccupied hand and unzipped it, digging around inside probably looking for flares.

"Wait a minute kid, Kakashi had a gun, that'll be enough for them both. What'll we do if we run into some infected while you're taking us to this camp or whatever." Naruto flinched. The younger brother uncrossed his arms and frowned at Naruto, who was a couple inches shorter than him. Naruto, obviously not intimidated by the height difference turned slowly and growled at him.

"Who are you calling a kid? I'll be 19 this year! Besides, I have a name so use it!"

I sigh, and look around for the glock that had fallen from my hand when Itachi slammed me against the wood racks. Finding it under a metal cart I check it over before sliding it into its holster on my hip.

"_You're_ 18…" the younger brother's tone and face is incredulous.

"Yes! Stop looking at me like that you jerk! Just because you're taller doesn't mean I won't knock your teeth out for making fun of me!"

"Hn. Moron You couldn't even reach my teeth."

_ooh_ this kid is asking for it. Naruto is unpredictable when he's riled. I lean against the wall watching with amusement while Naruto tenses and clenches his fists.

"Bastard!"

Iruka yelps and grabs a hold of Naruto's jacket before he can launch himself completely at the smirking younger brother.

"Sasuke, leave Naruto alone! Naruto, please calm down!" Iruka is struggling with the flailing cursing Naruto, who is stronger than he looks, especially when he's mad. I glance at the watch attached to my backpack and decide it's time to break it up despite how amusing it was to watch.

"Naruto, we don't have time for this. Sasuke, Naruto's _very_ good at evading the infected so don't worry your pretty little head over getting attacked." I grin in reply to the black glare he sends me and turn to the older brother, who looks faintly amused.

"Well, then, shall we?"

* * *

(1)Happiness is a Warm gun by the Beatles.

(2)All will be explained… later.

(3)Do it Again by the Beach Boys

(4)Google Underarmour if you want to see what they look like. It'd be under sports wear.

Thanks for your review Darkloverkitsune :] I took a little longer than I meant to update.


	3. Chapter 3

3rd Chapter Naruto POV :D :D :D :D :D

**Authors Note** - I'm _real_ good to ya'll in this chapter. Thank you sooo much for your reviews. They seriously made my week.

**Disclaimer** - I own nothing. Lazy disclaimer

---------------------------------------------------**Chapter 3**--------------------------------------------------------------------------

_I feel it in my blood now it's turning me, it's turning me. You better lock the doors and hide.- Blue morning - Greeley Estates_

* * *

My inner playlist is lacking due to distraction, in the form of one tall, pale _annoyance_ currently breathing down my neck. Ugh, what's his problem? I said I'd get us back in one piece, the least he could do is let up on the rude observations. My size is my own business, he can freakin lay off about how I resemble a pre-adolescent video game character dammit.

Stupid Sasuke, This fucking zombie apocalypse screwed me over! I swear I grew almost a fourth of an inch every couple of months before the zombie virus made everyone go batshit! Now we have to watch what we eat and ration our food. _Keh_.

Speaking of food, I wonder how Kakashi and Itachi are doing. We found almost everything we'd need so far.

In an alley opening to the road leading back to camp, pressed up against a brick wall, I frown. What if some moocher got to the grocery store and stole all the ramen they had in stock… wincing at the thought I slowly negotiate my way around some rubble littering the sidewalk, continue the pace, focusing back on my thoughts- Sometimes we end up going through multiple towns before finding something we need. Yes. Ramen constitutes as a need. _Of course_ it does!

At least Kakashi got those saw blades from the back shelves. I pause and snicker at the memory of Kakashi pulling me aside before we parted ways and making me promise to be careful, apparently he's _fond_ of Iruka…

"Woah-oops!" I lunge forward, the tip of my boot snagging against a jutting piece of cement. A firm grip on my forearm keeps me from face planting; I look up at Sasuke's nigh emotionless face and grin.

"Thanks." He raises one dark eyebrow and pulls me back to my feet.

"_Oh_ No!" I freeze, eyes widening in horror. _My Ramen_! Sasuke flinches behind me, his grip on my arm tightening.

"What? " Sasuke hisses.

"I didn't remind Kakashi to pick up ramen! What if he forgets?" I'm now taking short gasps of air as panic sets in, hyperventilating. Sasuke frowns, his tense stance relaxes somewhat and he smacks the back of my head with the hand that had previously been strangling my arm.

"Don't scare us like that Naruto!" Iruka scolds. What the hell is he talking about? Why would they be scared? Peeved, I rub the back of my neck and glare at Sasuke. Other than the scarcity of ramen there's no need to dread anything… yet. _Heh_, though, Kakashi wasn't kidding when he assured Sasuke that there was no need to worry about zombies with _me_ around. I can run circles around those newbly zombies any day.

Our pace is quicker than when Kakashi and I first scouted this route. I can move a little more confidently, not too much though, these zombie types, they like to pop outta nowhere and surprise ya. Sasuke and Iruka follow my lead a little hesitantly- i.e. checking around corners, flinching then glancing around wildly with wide fearful bambi eyes at every noise. Well, Iruka goes bambi, not Sasuke… stupid tall overconfident-_ooh_ there's the gun store… I wonder if Kakashi would burn that orange jacket if I picked it up.

"Why are we stopping?" Sasuke asks, glancing around cautiously. I peek at him from the corner of my eyes. He's standing slightly hunched, giving me the impression of a wild animal that'd burst into movement if any one made any sudden moves. _Silly tense newb. _

I focus back on the store's jagged glass windows. In retrospect, Kakashi made a good point, that jacket _does_ insinuate ZOMBIE BAIT… what the hell. Why am I even considering this? _Zombie_ bait… hmm. It sparks an idea I'm not going to even try to think through till we're back at the relative safety of our camp.

I trudge single mindedly into the barren surplus store and rip the bright orange jacket from its plastic hanger. I turn around to see Sasuke frowning at me quizzically and Iruka blinking like he'd just been blindsided by a particularly brilliant ray of sunlight.

I snicker as I tie the sleeves of the orange jacket around my waist and ignore their dumbfounded stares in favor of continuing our trek back to camp.

* * *

_----Ino POV.----_

"They've been gone almost an hour and half now." I purse my lips. Three striding steps forward. Stop. Cast a searching gaze in the direction of the flaming blockade, sigh. Turn and repeat.

Lee says nothing, just watches me, and occasionally glances in the same direction, a slight furrow to his brow that gets deeper and deeper with every glance.

I'm aware of Lee's dirt brown eyes following my pacing form. He sits slumped in the back of our grey truck, driver's side door ajar; rolling a shrinking green sucker around between his teeth.

My heart nearly jumps through my chest as a burst of noise meets my straining ears, I spin around, eyes frantic. Lee jerks up and leans forward expectantly.

"-could just be a failure of imagination on your part Sasuke." _Naruto! _That's definitely Naruto's voice. I can feel a smile slide across my face as I release a sigh in relief. Taking a few steps forward I pause as I distinguish the outline of a person in the broiling smoke.

_That_ is not Naruto… _who the hell is that_? Where's my Naruto? Oh there he is… who's that behind him? Who are these people? Lee's suddenly standing beside me, eyes narrowed in his face. I have the same distrusting expression as him, eyes narrowed as I watch Naruto skipping to keep up with the taller dark haired male's steps, the other unknown lighter brown haired male walks uneasily behind the two, taking in our expressions.

"Lack of imagin-" The tall dark haired male cuts himself off, pauses mid stride, turns to Naruto with pitch black eyes widening with disbelief and continues

"-It's not my imagination that's lacking here. The whole world's gone to hell in a matter of months and you're telling me life can go on like normal? What's the point? Don't look at me like that, I'm not suicidal, I just… What is there that makes life worth living now?" He stood there staring at my blonde haired crush, and Naruto broke into giggles and snorts of laughter.

"I can't believe you actually asked me that!" He gasps between giggles. The taller one's eyes narrow, he gives Naruto a slow disgusted look.

"I'm being serious here, you moron. Can't you carry on a single sober conversation without screwing it up somehow?"

"N-no no, these books I read- about discworld, and this wizard asked death that exact question!" (1) Naruto pauses for breathe, still grinning.

"... not sure I follow. Not sure I want to." Naruto rolls his eyes to the heavens at the tall guy's exasperated tone and exclaims

"Cats!" Silence follows his outburst. I suppress a giggle at the typical Naruto coversation. Tall guy opens and closes his thin lips, eye's narrow with something akin to disbelief and he shakes his head slowly, ebony black strands of hair framing his face sway with the movement.

"What… the fuck… do cats have to do with a meaningful life?" Naruto parrots tall guy's head shake.

"Sasuke, before the zombie apocalypse, did you even care about defining what living a meaningful life would equate to?" Tall guy, _Sasuke_- blinked, _speechless_? I dunno, his face gave no hint to his thoughts. Naruto ignoring Sasuke's blank stare continued.

"My point is, life happens, whether it's meaningful or not. I suppose what a life means to someone depends on their perspective. I- on the other hand- happen to find meaning in whatever is present at the moment. I'm alive, and as such my life means something." Naruto turns to meet my eyes, his blue eyes warming into such a breathtakingly welcoming look that I find myself running to him and wrapping my arms around his stupid small body.

"Welcome back." I mutter. He pats my back with a grin and calls at Lee waving

"Heya Eeyore! Hows camp? Anymore zombie visitors since I been gone?" Lee smiles one of his rare small smiles and shakes his head.

"Where's Kakashi, Naruto?" Naruto tugs at my arms to get free; I reluctantly release him and turn to the Sasuke guy who's staring at Naruto. I frown, I can't place that glint sparkling in his ebon eyes and it makes me feel uncomfortably cautious.

"He's with Sasuke's older brother. They'll be back shortly." He turns to me and smirks, catching my appraising once over of Sasuke.

"Checking out the strays I picked up In-o?" He chuckles, teasingly drawing out my name. Slightly annoyed that Naruto caught me, I frown.

"Not really. Just wondering who the hell they are." Naruto blinked, for a moment he looked a little sheepish, then rebounded, expression morphing from sheepish to indifferent in a matter of seconds.

"Like I said, they're just some strays I picked up." He moved away from Sasuke, who was giving him an eyes narrowed displeased stare, and stood on his tip toes to fling his arm around the other brown haired man's shoulders grinning mischievously.

"Except for Iruka, here… He's a survival newb we're gonna take under our bad-ass epically _leet_ wings. Teach him the ropes, as it were." I can only shake my head. Naruto and his video game jargon obviously more or less threw Iruka off, as the brown haired male studied the clinging Naruto with a raised eyebrow. Naruto glanced at Iruka's expression with a nonchalant grin and released him to walk to Lee, arms wide.

"Don't I get a welcome back hug from you Eeyore?" Lee raised his eyebrows. I repressed a tic forming in my left eye. Something about Lee that drives me nuts is his eyebrows. They make me want to go all beauty school drop out on him and take a pair of tweezers and pluck and pluck and pluck and pluck-

"Only if you actually want one, Naruto." Lee said and turned his back firmly on Naruto to climb into the driver's side of the truck. Naruto chuckled, the side of his mouth quirking into the closest thing I'd ever seen to a smirk on his face. He turned back to the two newcomers and his almost smirk was swept away in a stunning nothing held back smile, aquamarine eyes lit beautifully and golden blonde hair tenderly caressing his forehead, framing his scarred face. He raised both hands to lazily rest them, fingers intertwined, behind his neck.

"Well-p, this is camp. And for the next couple of days, depending on zombie interference, it'll be home. When Kakashi gets back with your brother Sasuke we can figure out what we'll do from here. "

Sasuke, I noticed with a start, was staring openly at Naruto. I held back a mortified gasp at a sudden revelation. Sasuke's dark eyes reflecting the flames dancing around us almost ethereally also reflected an emotion I recognized in myself. And I did _not_ approve.

* * *

----_Itachi POV----_

Kakashi was an adequate companion to search out supplies with. The four infected we found upon entering the musty smelling grocery store were quickly dispatched, Kakashi handling himself with grace born of experience amidst the aisles of produce. I have to admit, I was slightly apprehensive to this idea posed by the stunning petite blonde, but watching little Naruto and my younger brother interact, I came to a decision to… evaluate this situation in a more _open minded_ light then I'd normally allow myself. Due to the effects that said situation could result in, most subtle of which my little brother getting laid, this could end up being a very effective way to survive. Not to mention pleasurable, if the way my brother stared was taken into account.

I could feel a smirk twitching at my lips, which I hid by shouldering a now heavily filled back pack. I turn to Kakashi, watching him zip shut his already bursting bag around the crinkly plastic packages of instant ramen he'd insisted we go back to find after he'd stopped dead in his tracks and spun around upon remembering.

It was an odd reaction from the normally mellow man, I don't quite see the significance behind the importance of grabbing as many packets of ramen he could and crushing them down into his bag, but he seemed placated after doing so and we continued on. I focused on the man in front of me; He was about my height, shoulders slightly broader than my younger brothers. About my size in I suppose. Despite his silvery grayish hair, he sported no wrinkles on the upper half of his face. His nose and mouth was covered by a face mask that had been present since we'd first met in the back of the Hardware store.

Thinking of the Hardware store I breathed an imperceptible sigh. I mentally retraced mine and my brother's steps to reach current events where we had met Kakashi and Naruto.

My brother and I had caught up with Iruka, an old friend of the family, cowering in his plant nursery he'd owned and tended to lovingly before the infection created mass hysteria in our hometown, Langley. We'd been forced from our mansion by fires, raging unhindered devouring block after block of the once slightly homey town; Turning it into an inferno of familiar faces on dead bodies and breath restricting smoke billowing into the sky, coating the streets and surrounding area in snow like ash for miles.

It was, hard on Sasuke, our father had died in an explosion on the way home from work, the same day we turned the television to the nightly News, numb and taking slight comfort in the mundane ritual of watching television; The sturdy man with sideburns reporting the death toll entering the millions, Infection spreading to every corner of the continent in a steady impersonal tone. I remember standing in the doorway, staring at the large plasma screen, Sasuke sitting limply against an arm chair. The side burn man urged people to stay in their homes and wait for an evacuation call. They were taking people to a secure location in the Rockies, (2) somewhere in Idaho.

I remember waking up one morning to a call from my aunt, she was in hysterics, shrieking that they were going to Canada; one of her friends had heard a rumor that the virus couldn't survive cold weather, I promptly told her that was one of the more ridiculous things I'd heard about current events and that she should stay put as instructed and wait for evacuation. I don't know where she is now, if she's dead or in Canada. We waited until the flames licked the sides of the mansion, blackening our deceased mother's pearly marble memorial sitting in the garden, bringing all the comfort a tombstone in a cemetery could muster. We waited for Evacuation till the smoke blackened our vision and we couldn't breathe. Then, hope failing, we fled, fire and infected at our heels, seeking refuge in Iruka's greenhouse.

For a month we stayed amongst the wilting flowers and greenery, vibrant butterflies fluttering over our heads providing whispers of comfort along with the soothing tang of tilled earth and scented flowers, multicolored engorged petal-ed heads bowing and waving when we walked past. And Iruka, a comforting companion to our glass enclosure, we lived as though the world outside did not exist. For one month, we were simply Itachi, Sasuke, and Iruka. Living amongst a gentle green world.

This illusion shattered along with the greenhouse, infected swarming, crushing, burning, bleeding, gore and blood stained panes of glass where some had impaled themselves and kept lurching doggedly forward despite the jagged pieces hindering their movements. I taking one last look, glimpsed the infected through lines and cracks in the glass, dripping with amber blood, flailing against their own restrictions, blood shot eyes seeing nothing but red, spittle and blood and teeth loosened from gnashing falling from their gaping mouths. They, amongst the tender greens and yellows and pinks, the pastels of our comforting one month, I felt rage erupt inside me, boiling up through my veins, my thoughts focused on bodily ripping apart the infected destroying our glass house. To grip the sharp glass into my fists and slash the intruders until they lay unmoving against the green earth. I felt an arm tightly grip my waist, restraining my movements, Sasuke desperately muttering in my ear, then we both froze, a particularly overweight infected woman crashed through the side of the green house, falling on her face, hair clogged with dirt and blood and gore, but it was the sudden flurry of color that held our gaze and caught our breathes. Iruka sobbed besides us as we watched hundreds of butterflies waft from the jagged opening, it was like watching a spiraling rainbow scatter and reform. Sasuke's desperate hold on me went limp as we stared at the sky littered with patches of color. It was, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen in my entire life.

"Here we are." I blinked back the image of blue against multicolored specks flitting like light reflected rain. Kakashi and I were standing before a flaming blockade engulfing a good portion of what was once a high school soccer field. I could hear coherent voices conversing across the burning turf and followed Kakashi's lead toward them.

"Careful, watch your step, we set up mines all through here, but It's the only way on and off this field." Kakashi muttered at me, I stood for a moment to observe the raised cement bleachers encircling the field, there were no breaks and no other entrances, this reminded me of a football stadium, and maybe that was its other function, once upon a time. I followed Kakashi's steps, moving carefully, avoiding glinting thin wires which rose partially from the ground. Damn, there were a lot of mines here; they obviously weren't taking any chances. That thought, despite the annoyance it caused at the moment, made my decision regarding accompanying Kakashi and co. indefinitely lean more towards the definite.

Kakashi's shoulders, directly in my eyesight, suddenly relax, his muscles loosen, I notice with no small relief that the ground ahead of us was bare of wires. Turning my eyes up I catch Sasuke's gaze, his ebon eyes softening. Iruka gave a grateful cry of my name, and suddenly the petite blonde was right in front of me, teeth glinting in a smile and relief apparent in those deep blue eyes, smiling up at my face, he took the heavy back pack from me with small exclamations of 'welcome back', exchanged banter with Kakashi about ramen among other things I didn't quite follow, I assume they were inside jokes. Kakashi following Naruto to the back of the grey truck, they unloaded their bounty, cracking jokes and comparing notes on different items. I turned my attention back to my little brother, who I notice with barely concealed glee, was watching Naruto, or more specifically, undressing the petite blond with his eyes. I can hardly suppress a malicious chuckle; I know how I sound when I chuckle, and took pride in the slight shudder accompanied by a sudden wary glance my younger brother shoots at me.

Yes, I think, due to all the benefits, least of which my brother's budding crush, we shall accompany this small group of survivors most indefinitely.

* * *

(1) _Terry Pratchett writes some effin hilarious books centering around a mythical Universe, a discworld situated on the backs of four monolithic elephants, said elephants stand on the back of a planet sized turtle, the great Atuin, who lazily floats around in space. The reference Naruto made is in the book Sourcery, where a dying wizard, Ipslore, converses with the personification of Death. _

(2) _The Rocky mountains in North America. _

**I used him. *is unashamed* Yes yes, Itachi was a plot device, quite frankly, to bring forth Itachi's and Sasuke's past. It's nice to get that out neh. I won't elaborate too much on who or what professions the individual survivors had before infection. This isn't about their pasts so much as their present, surviving the 'zombie apocalypse' and Naruto and Sasuke's relationship. This is going to be, at best, a difficult romance for Sasuke; Which I really feel content about. I don't really like canon Sasuke, he gets on my nerves. I adore canon Naruto however.**

**Thank you again for your reviews :]**

**Atrumdraco, thanks for pointing out the need to clarify who's pov the second chapter is in. I added a note at the beginning that should clear confusion up. As for wether or not any other canon characters will be in this story, you'll see. eventually. ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N - **Beta-ed by Neon-Panda! And a quick note, My step mom is from south korea, and I made a mistake when I mentioned them. The correct reference I meant to make was North Korea. For obvious reasons :P

Chapter updated 1-30-2011

**Disclaimer** - I do not own Naruto, no money is made from this fic.

-Chapter 4 Sasuke's POV 

_I'm not a monster, I'm just a sick man- Who would do anything, to get his soul back. – Blue Morning - Greeley Estates_

* * *

If I were to ever describe my past 'relationships' with people before all of this, I'd sum them all up in one miserable word; Platonic, at best.

Because after feeling _this_, this pulse-quickening, breath-hindering, chillingly uncontrollable emotion raging through me, leaving my thoughts and common sense dismantled, there is no way I could ever look back on past lovers with anything but pale, bored, reminiscent indifference.

Any lust I'd felt in the past was eclipsed, utterly swamped by this consuming need. This can't actually be love. Never at first sight- well, this isn't first sight. I've been watching, stealing glances, literally peeking at the energetic blonde for the past two days now. He demands my interest, in a way he doesn't even acknowledge. I'm not obsessed, Naruto is just… Naruto. He's currently chatting with the other, paler, blonde- Ino… weird name. Gesturing with his whole body, eyes sparkling in his face like finely cut gems…! Where the hell did _that_ come from? I'm getting poetic here; damn you young hormones- Damn you to hell! I sound like Itachi- fuck. He's the fruit loop, not me. I'm normally more complacent about my emotions. Damn Naruto.

The brightest person I've met throughout my life and it's during a fucking biochemical fall-out that I meet him. You'd expect survivors to be gray dismal little existences, not beaming sunlight and dancing rays of random explosive lyrics that hold almost no relevance with what's going on at the time. He's not 'off in his own little world'- He _is_ his own little world. I'm not saying he's self centered, Naruto cannot be described as selfish, at all. What he can be described as is endearingly bright energy, pulling and pushing the people around him at random intervals, a complete enigma, _the sun_.

Ok, I'm an honest guy. Honestly. And I'm always up front with myself, never in denial. Nope. Why would I need to lie to myself about anything? I accepted that the world's chaotic at a young age. With an insane demagogue older brother, who hides how _completely_-fucking-_nonexistent_ his morals are under his stoic blank face, I'd had to adjust pretty quickly or be destroyed. I'd accepted my sexuality a little later, but apparently that was something that made Itachi proud… or maybe he was just glad I'd found a reason to distance myself from the prestigious Uchiha name.

The point is, _this_, can't be love. I've never been in love in my life. This must be my shock catching up with me at the world ending via zombie-apocalypse. I mean, how fucking idiotic is that? C'mon North Korea, what happened to your nuclear weapons and all those evil schemes? Where'd the hate go?

Going out with a bang would be preferable to this. Nuclear fall-outs are always less chaotic than bio-chemical ones, because chances are, you won't be around to deal with it.

"Saaa-suke!" I jerked my chin off the palm of my hand, glancing at the cause of my current anxiety.

"Naruto." He grinned in reply, holding up a can of soda.

"Yah thirsty, Sas?" He gave me a nickname. Sounds like he's calling me sauce. I fight a silly grin, wrestling with my facial muscles at the sentiment, resulting in a twitch. Naruto raised an eyebrow and slowly shrunk back with an apprehensive laugh.

"Okay... you're not thirsty, I get it, don't go all evil eye on me." I snatch the can from his fingers with a sigh and pop the tab back opening the drink. He giggles- _giggles_. What the hell is with this guy? He wants me to respect his claim to manliness while making adorable noises like _that?_ Stop fucking giggling!

"Sasuke, why do you look like you're currently digesting something prickly?" I snort.

"Any, and all, odd facial expressions displayed are the result of associating with you; and as such I can conclude they are _All Your Fault_. Moron." Naruto clenches his jaw, eyes narrow.

"Here I am being nice to a jerk, expecting the jerk to grace me with an enlightening informative conversation about your sadistic older brother, and I say sadistic because he assisted in the capture and _torture _of my orange jacket (may it rest in pieces) where ever the hell _they_ spirited it off too, and you go all jerk face on me. Jerk!" He spun on his heel, almost bumping into Kakashi, who's chuckling under his ever present face mask. What's with the mask? Seriously, is the guy a germ-a-phobe or something?

"Looking for revenge on Itachi, via black-mail, by going to his younger brother Naruto? Not so clever today, are we?"

Naruto graciously gave Kakashi the finger, drawled "Shaddup." then continued on his merry way.

Kakashi laughed quietly, focusing his eyes on me with amusement clear in his eyes. I ignored him and his condescending stare in favor of examining Naruto's oblivious departing form.

"...Naruto instigates and induces the oddest conversations." He said at length. My answering grunt doesn't deter him from making more conversation.

"Itachi and I have talked about your current situation." I glance at him, Itachi and this sly gray haired man conversing about me can only result in irreparable evil done to my poor innocent psyche.

Kakashi laughed

"No need to look so wary."

_Lies_. There is a multitude of reasons for me to be running for the hills at the moment. I give him my best get-to-the-point glare I can, despite my stomach plummeting and my traitorous mind already filling with nightmarish scenarios concerning me, Naruto, and my evil brother leering on the sidelines. If anything, Naruto doesn't deserve that. He'd be scarred for life; he'd never be the same after interference on my older brother's part. I thought Kakashi _liked_ Naruto-

"We've decided, with your agreement, that our two little groups can merge and cooperate for however long is necessary, or pleasant." I blink. Wait, this isn't about me and Naruto?

"And as such, in the interest of surviving as long as we can, we've decided on forming a, uh, buddy system. So…" His eyes tilt up in an innocent smile. I can feel the blood draining from my face in waves.

"-Guess who your thoughtful, _observant_, older brother insisted on partnering you with." For simple respite on the current reality, and to keep the blood pumping through my brain from departing with the rest of the blood in my skull, let's mentally chart this out.

Concerning the 'score'-

Evil older brother: 1

Enamored Sasuke: ½

Naruto's Innocence: Zilch. Zero. _Nada._

I can't figure out whether this will work in my favor, or simply provide my brother with entertainment till he is devoured by the infected. Thankfully, my brain is saved from its imminent digression, into only functioning enough to plot escape, by Naruto's voice, slightly hysterical, carrying over to where I'm stiffly seated against a bleacher.

"I hope you choke on that Cheeto puff you're currently chewing on." _Where_ in the _hell_ did that come from?

Naruto's standing in front of an amused Itachi, head tilted slightly up. Itachi reaches orange dusted fingers into the plastic bag Naruto's currently holding, protectively, to his chest and meticulously brings forth from the depths of the bag another Cheeto. Naruto's narrowed eyes follow every drawn out movement. Itachi smirks slowly at Naruto and, with no further ceremony, pops the orange Cheeto into his mouth. He chews almost thoughtfully, and then swallows with a satisfied gleam in his scheming black eyes.

Naruto shrieks. Itachi turns tail and trots off, Naruto hot on his heels. I gape, watching Naruto chase my grinning older brother around the bleachers, screaming profanities.

Who the hell is this, and _what has he done with my brother_?

Itachi pauses in front of me. I barely have time to notice, and appreciate, his sudden malicious smirk; his neat sidestep from Naruto's charging path, and how gracefully he trips him. Abruptly my lap is full of Naruto, and all brain function ceases.

Naruto squirms, I stare down at him, and his crystalline eyes look up timidly, wary of what consequences his relatively soft landing could incur.

_A hallelujah chorus_, I fucking _hear_ angels singing. I'm aware that I'm getting multiple stares from the members of this camp, all reflecting different emotions. I'm aware of the unexpected flush slowly tinting Naruto's cheeks red. But what I'm most focused on is the realization that all the blood previously housed in my skull, has vacated, far, far, _far, _south. And quite frankly, there's nowhere I'd rather be in this moment than here leaning against these bleachers, with my lap full of Naruto.

Naruto, on the other hand, looks like he wants up. _Ah_ no. My arms are rather firmly restricting his movements, inconspicuously of course. He struggles a little more frantically. _Too soon_, but with a mental sigh, I move my arms and he jerks away from me, falling flat against the concrete.

"Ouch! Damn." Naruto sits up rubbing the side of his face, peeking at me guiltily, cheeks still dusky. I raise an eyebrow at him, playing cool and nonchalant, despite my concealed _problem_. He stands, sheepishly dusts himself off, and sporadically lunges at Itachi, firmly knocking him off his feet.

"Gotcha!" Naruto crows triumphantly from his seat on Itachi's chest. Itachi stares up at him, eyes wide with a completely bemused look. I'm still digesting what the hell had just happened. …Itachi just got tackled to the ground by Naruto.

Itachi. Got. Tackled. _Smacked down- _by a boy only half his size!(*)

My breathe bursts from me in snorts, morphing into pealing laughs. Naruto grins at me with a self satisfied smile and he raises his hand, bending all his fingers into his palm except his index and his pinky.(*)

I can't stop chuckling. Itachi's face, that was comical. I've only seen that look four or five times in my life. But, that look, coupled with him on the ground, staring dazed up at Naruto? _Priceless._

* * *

_Itachi POV_

What the hell just happened? Naruto, Sasuke, sudden plan, Cheetos, victory, then- how did I end up lying on my back, with a grinning Naruto perched on my chest? Naruto, the vicious little wild-thing, glances down at me with shining blue eyes, and bursts into chiming laughs.

Woah, what's that sound?

I push myself up on my elbows, Naruto tumbles off still chortling, and I focus on that foreign yet familiar noise- i.e. _my_ _younger __brother_ holding his sides, bent over quaking with barely suppressed laughs.

I expect a little embarrassment, tinted with anger. But, I'm not angry- or embarrassed.

"_Heh_, how interesting Naruto." I murmur, Naruto, gasping between laughs, rolls on the ground beside me and only waves his hand in reply. I stifle a sigh, rising to my feet, pulling Naruto up with me. He's still catching his breath, blonde hair trembling as he wipes his eyes on his fists.

"Ah, 'tachi, that was great! We really need to play split-second tackle football more often."

"_Oh_? Is that what that was...?" I smile down at him, amused_. _He's shining in the sinking rays of the setting sun, blonde hair lit up, blue eyes reflecting deep humor and enjoyment. Light gleams palely on his tan skin; my attention rests on the three scars that adorn each side of his face. I've mused curiously over those for a while now, but haven't asked him about it.

"Hell'sYeah- I've just invented it." He grins over at Sasuke. My little brother's smile hasn't quite left his lips and he's appraising Naruto with the softest expression in his eyes.

_Ah, that's_ why I wasn't upset. I chuckle lightly; Naruto pats me on the back once and moves over to Sasuke's side to plop down next to him on the metal bleachers. He reclines, leaning his head back slightly, Sasuke eyeing him discreetly.

"Pack Up! C'mon! Swarm's coming in from Eisley town! The Fire's driven them out!" Lee's yell accompanied him running down the bleachers from his look-out post. Naruto bursts into movement and Sasuke jumps to his feet, eyes wide.

"Inoooo! Kakashi!" Naruto yells en-route to the truck. Kakashi places thick, durable, wooden planks across the flaming blockade, making a path for the truck to drive to the stadium's entrance- safe from the flames and mines. Ino bursts from the tarp tent and runs to the truck, a huge military green duffel bag in her arms, which she shoves into the back.

"Sasuke! Itachi! Iruka! C'mon!" Naruto sweeps his arm gesturing at us. Iruka, who was posted to watch off the south wall of the stadium, is already half way down the bleachers. Naruto and Ino snap the makeshift tent down, rolling it up, metal polls encased within the tarp. They're sliding the whole thing into the back of the truck. By the time Sasuke and I reach them, Kakashi's done with his task, already at the entrance. I can hear short bursts of gun fire from his direction, but can't see him through the smoke, and Naruto slams the truck bed closed.

The truck starts with a roar. Lee's in the driver's seat, slamming the door. Naruto climbs up into the back, holding out a hand for Ino. Sasuke takes hold of it instead and is pulled up without hesitation. Iruka clambers up next to them.

Ino doesn't comment, thankfully, and pulls herself into the passenger side of the truck, I follow her. The truck lurches forward and we're suddenly swamped into foggy smoke, running up the glass on all sides, wafting through the air vents. I check behind us, hoping for a glimpse of Sasuke safely in the back, but nothing can be discerned through the heavy smoke. An explosion nearly rocks the truck over, one of the mines going off. Lee yelps and we're jostled in the seats, blood sprays across the windshield. Ino choked out a scream that sounded like Kakashi's name. Lee's grip on the wheel tightened, and we plowed forward, the smoke parted in front of us and we all wince and shutter our eyes as a burst of red light is abruptly tossed over our wind shield, flung far into the field behind us.

We're met with the sight of Kakashi emptying his semi-auto pistol into an infected male. The infected jerks back spastically upon impacting with the bullets, blood sprays from exit wounds, the bullets that caused them tearing into the ground. I hear Ino let out a strangled sob. Kakashi turns abruptly and sprints in our direction. I turn to watch through the rear window as Naruto and Sasuke pull him into the moving truck.

Infected, moving in small numbers, are tumbling through the opening, splitting off, some heading for the flare burning brightly amidst gleaming wires, and some heading for the truck. Mini explosions rock the air, the driver's window is suddenly spider webbed with cracks, and Lee flinches. He stomps on the gas and we lurch forward again, slamming into oncoming infected, parting them easier than stalks of grass against the wind.

We sweep through the exit leaving a trail of dust behind us, infected chasing fruitlessly. I let out a shaky breath, turning in my seat again to check on Sasuke. He's sitting almost slumped against Naruto, wind whipping their hair around their faces. I notice they're splattered with flecks of blood, but wearing goggles and face masks. They must have put them on before we drove on the improvised bridge over the flamed barricade. Explosions still going off faintly in the distance, we swerve onto an abandoned car clustered highway, I check the gas, noting the full tank. They certainly are prepared.

I close my eyes, leaning back in my seat. Grateful, so thankful, I made the right choice. These people- they've not only adapted to living in this shattered world, they've evolved- their thought process, their habits... almost everything they do is centered on living. Not just surviving.

Just the word 'Survival' induces the image of wide eyed and dirty-faced, hollow, _hardened_, people existing for no other reason than to stay alive. Not _this_- this bright, day-to-day, random events-turned-joyous by nigh mundane activities. Which are mostly set off and set up by the bright eyed, bright haired, zombie enamored blonde sitting behind me. He lives. He doesn't survive.

How? I don't know. But I have a calming suspicion that if we stay with these people long enough, Sasuke and I will end up _living_ too.

With that comforting thought lingering in my mind, I open my eyes. Ino smiles at me and offers me bottled water and a snack bag full of Cheetos.

_...smirk_

* * *

(1) Not really, Sasuke's over exaggerating...

(2)The rock-out sign or whatever...


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N - **Beta-ed by Neon-Panda!

_Chapter updated 1-30-2011_

**Disclaimer** - I do not own Naruto, no money is made from this fic.

-Chapter 5 Ino POV-

_No name, no history-Just a target on my temple and a hole in my head - Asking Alexandria -I was once possibly maybe perhaps a cowboy king._

* * *

These suburbs are barren; cracked cement, dreary broken buildings, and no lights within. The fires common in every town prior to this one haven't broken out here. It's a place not even the infected inhabit. It's eerie and quiet here, lifeless in a way that makes even Naruto shiver. He sits in the back of the truck, listening to the pavement crunching beneath the tires, gaze on the landscape, secluded in his thoughts.

I shift positions from the freezing metal truck bed under me, the toe of my tennis shoe nudging the tent's metal poles to shift and clank together. It's snowing, I realize, with little flecks of white floating tumultuously by. I glance up at the cloud veiled sky.

_Either snow or ash._ But there are no fires here. Naruto's wearing my black handkerchief around his head; black doesn't look right on him...

He tilted his head, lovely azure eyes deepening with an intense, vacant look; remembering and memorizing simultaneously.

He did that often, like he didn't want to forget.

When I look out at the dark houses, I don't see anything worth remembering.

_In silence... don't look back..._

"...Naruto?" He blinks listlessly; I can't tell if it's in acknowledgement of Sasuke's voice, shuttering those increasingly disturbing, unfocused eyes from view momentarily.

"Naruto." Sasuke hissed. I barely discern the worry laced subtly within his commanding tone.

"Do you think there are any pregnant stray c-cats around? Y-y'know-" Naruto turned dark distant eyes on us, pausing to tilt his blue tinged lips into a sheepish smile.

"-ones that aren't inf-f-fected..."

Sasuke and I exchange glances. It's time for Naruto to switch places with someone in the toasty warm interior of the truck. Either his brain had frozen from the cold, or he was half asleep. Hypothermia was not something we wanted to deal with. Heaven forbid him getting frostbite.

"I think, I'd l-like a k-kitten for Christmas this year." Naruto continued shivering, oblivious, or ignoring, our worried stares. I stretch my hands out and grab his shaking fingers. Crap! His hands are icy!

"Naruto!" I move to crouch in front of him, hugging him to my chest, my breath stutters in my lungs at how cold he is. His head lolls a little to the side, eyes half mast. He grins at me.

"Chill Ino. Whatsa' matter?" Sasuke crouched next to me, cursing under his breath. He raps sharply against the rear window and the truck slows.

"Fucking idiot, if you were cold you should have said so!" Sasuke's voice rumbles from deep in his throat, words growled like an angry beast. He's so different from Naruto when he gets mad; Sasuke's anger is quiet, focused and ferocious, promising retribution and action... Naruto's anger is loud, aggressive, but passes quickly...

"What's the problem? We need to switch again?" Lee steps from the driver's seat, only takes one glance and his eyes harden on Naruto.

"Get in the fucking truck Naruto. _Now_." Lee turns on his heel and leans over the driver's seat reaching for something, Kakashi slides out of the passenger side of the truck and walks to the back; he frowns under his mask upon glancing at Naruto's shivering form. Surveying us each in turn he sighs.

"We can't keep going. Temperature's definitely going to end up dropping below zero. We need to find a house and secure it now. Before the temperature drops even lower." he says. Itachi and Iruka step from the truck to stretch their legs. Iruka's wrapped up in a patchwork quilt which he quickly unfurls from himself and hands up to us, worried brown eyes on Naruto. I wrap the pre warmed quilt around Naruto and me; I don't want to move away from him, though only a miniscule amount of body heat has built between us.

"W-what month is it anyway?" Naruto mumbles from beside my ear.

"November, Naruto. It's November." I reply, little tremors running down my spine at his breath wafting against my neck.

"Well damn, last month was m-my birthday, I totally forgot, I'm 19 now." Naruto's chuckle descended into a quaking shiver.

I flinch when Sasuke snarls and wraps his arms around Naruto's form, lifting him bodily from my arms. Naruto squawks, indignantly flailing.

"Shit! Sasuke! What do you think you're doing bastard?"

"Shut up." His black eyes are piercing, anger glinting through them like the reflection of roaring flames off of polished black marble. His voice a chilling contrast, yet roaring none the less in a different way. Naruto pauses momentarily in his struggles to stare at Sasuke's face.

Sasuke takes advantage and climbs carefully down from the truck. He plunks Naruto into the truck and crawls in after him slamming the door shut. Naruto's started complaining again; Sasuke ignores him and reaches across him to shut the driver's door. Lee gives a hand sized chemical heat pack to Kakashi, Iruka, and Itachi- who are layering themselves in jackets- and motions for me to crawl into the truck.

"Stay with Sasuke and Naruto. We're going to look for a suitable safe-house. We'll check back in fifteen minutes." I nod and jump down to the cement. Lee was my official 'zombie survival buddy', or so Kakashi had informed us a day ago... the guidelines instructed were to stay together and watch your SB's back unconditionally, but it was a lax system- only really necessary during an unexpected attack.

And, I suspect, Kakashi was scheming something with Itachi. This whole buddy system B.S. was an excuse for some devious plot those two had thought up. Well, despite the obvious B.S. ... it's an ok idea.

"Keep the truck running until Naruto's heated up. We might be back by then..." Kakashi places a metal baseball bat in Iruka's hands; Itachi's already picked up the wooden one. Kakashi has his Glock holstered, and Lee will probably use a shot gun.

Better safe than sorry. Just because the place looked vacant of zombies didn't mean it was a good idea to walk around unarmed and unprepared. We'd learned this the hard way in the first month of infection.

With this thought, I'm suddenly hesitant to leave Lee's side; I've known him longer than both Naruto and Kakashi, and I've always viewed him as something of a surrogate younger brother, ever since he and his Father moved into the apartment flat next to ours all those years ago...

I open the driver's side door and slide almost listlessly into the truck, shutting the door behind me. Memories rising unbidden to the surface, I feel my face crumple slightly, and turn to watch the four jogging down the road.

My thoughts focused on the first of us lost to infection, Lee's father..._Gai._

* * *

_Lee POV_

We don't bury our dead.

_In silence, we swathe the dead in flames- don't look back, just walk away._

For weeks after, I couldn't feel anything.

Watching him mercilessly slam her face into the wall till blood and fluid and cartilage crumbled from numerous orifices, I had no thoughts, I stood there and waited for him to turn his familiar red stained feverish eyes to me. I waited to die next to my fiancé.

_"Dad..." The tall black-haired male bent over and retched, blood and stomach acid splashed against the ground. Temari's once beautiful face still plastered against the blood painted wall, her limp body sliding down, slowly, slowly. Lee's eyes never left her. The room was filled with an unfamiliar ghastly stench, thickening the air, it was hard to breath._

_"Dad..." Lee choked out, voice cracking._

_"What did, W-why?" Lee's face was anguished, confused. He gripped the door frame beside him, nails biting into the wood. Gai's body convulsed, he was gasping, bent over, he flung his head to the side, the rest of his body following. Floundering against the floor he made choking noises in the back of his throat, raising to his feet, blood dripping between his white teeth, he snarled, animalistic, at Lee and lunged for him..._

Iruka bursts from the open door and exhaled his held breathe quickly before inhaling.

"No good... p-pipes are... already frozen in there-" Iruka is gasping for breath- decomposing bodies don't make good air fresheners, especially for enclosed spaces. He leant against a fence, breathing heavily.

"Damn it..." With a muttered curse Kakashi swiveled his head to me, I glanced at my watch- unbidden. _Not yet._ I shook my head. We still have ten minutes.

"All right, Itachi's not back yet. Lee, go check on him- He was in the fourth house down, yellow door."

I give a short nod and jog across browning lawns and cross the sidewalk to the house, reaching the porch steps just as Itachi steps from the dark entrance, a hand over his mouth.

He shakes his head at me, looking sick, weary.

I close my eyes. This is not an ideal place for Naruto, or Ino. Especially Naruto... he's dealt with all this death in his own special way. Denial, or whatever the hell his defense is... But there'd be no denying, no way to witness this _weakness_- and not be changed by it.

Every house we've been in, bodies lie in their beds, on their couches, pill bottles and bloody razors, pieces of glass... bullets in children, frozen drugged food and drink to kill painlessly sitting innocently next to white and graying bodies.

They killed their own fucking children, they gave up. _They killed their own…_

_He fell short, landing on the floor at Lee's feet. Lee stared mutely down at his father, eyes wide._

_"...Wait, dad, dad...wait a minute." Gai gripped his son's legs in a bruising grip. Whimpering and growling, blood tainted tears plunked to the brown carpet._

_"Dad!" Lee wrenched his legs free and bounded across the room, away from his father._

_"Dad! What the Hell Did You DO?"_

_Someone was pounding on the front door; he could hear Kakashi's voice bellowing._

_"Lee! Run! Don't touch him! Lee!" The door was kicked off its hinges. Kakashi, still in his police uniform, stormed into the room. Gai, who'd been crawling frantically across the floor, climbed to his feet and howled- slamming into Lee._

_"No!"_

"Burning bodies don't smell as awful as you're imagining." I tell a green Iruka. He just winces and turns his head. Kakashi's thoroughly doused the five bodies in gasoline, lined up along the wood-fenced back yard. We're sending them off in flames. They don't deserve it- but Naruto doesn't need to see the bullet holes in the two children's head, or the blue-faced bruise-necked infant cradled firmly in his mother's stiff arms.

This house is ideal. Water runs (just barely), the front and back doors are made of heavy thick aluminum, and both have double locks. The windows are fairly small, three in the living room, two in the dining room/kitchen area. Upstairs there's a pull down attic, two bedrooms- a brick fireplace in one- and two bathrooms. There's even a basement, though it's under a foot of freezing cold water. The washing machine works, which should please Ino, she's no doubt got laundry. The best thing about this house is the electricity generator in the side porch.

Smoke billows, the fire melts and raises blisters to instantly pop across dead skin. Iruka's retching in the side of the yard, Kakashi bent over next to him, rubbing his back soothingly. Itachi is inside the house cleaning, stripping the beds of their sheets. I watch a while longer until the adult male's eyelids peel back and the eyes boil over to ooze down sizzling skin. The liquid evaporates quickly in the heat, with a lurch of my stomach I turn and escape the sight into the house.

I almost run into Itachi, his arms are full of blankets. Impassively he studies my shaking form; he sighs without making a sound, placing the blankets in my arms, turns and almost lazily points to the stairs. Then without looking to see if I understood he walks into the kitchen and starts opening cabinets.

Ok. I walk up the stairs, noting the front door and all the windows are open, letting the cold in, but at the same time releasing the stank musty air and the oppressive scent of death.

_The thick glass smashes across his bloody face, shards burying deep as Lee frantically pushes his Father's body off of him._

_Kakashi raises another glass and slams it down onto Gai's skull, Lee hears a dull crunch and screams. Kakashi's hands are slippery with blood, yet his grip on Lee's forearm is like a vise. He drags the shaking whimpering boy from his apartment, down the hall, and slams Naruto's Godfathers apartment door open._

_Naruto's sitting on the floor, blue eyes wide, pale pink lips forming an o; he drops the Xbox controller and the screen flashes red as his character is shot dead._

_"Watch him." Kakashi snarls, and pushes lee to the couch. Naruto gulps at the tone and nods, standing immediately. Kakashi exits the apartment, shutting the door firmly, then rushes to find the other adolescent that lived in the third floor._

_Lee sat on the crumb infested couch, slowly looking around. Naruto runs a hand through tousled hair, flinches as he hears doors slamming in the hall way, then the screaming sirens that had been constant for hours, stopped. Both boys' gaze fell immediately on the balcony glass door; Naruto's curious, Lee's perturbed._

I spread the blankets on each of the twin beds, slowly smoothing out wrinkles by tugging on the edges of the thick blankets. There's an air mattress connected to a pump being inflated slowly in between the two beds. The room is split in half, one side decorated with a punkish rocker style, the other, some weird mix between gothic and pink princess shit. Posters and photos litter the walls on either side, the closet's full of clothes and shoes, nothing useful.

Well, Ino might like some of these shirts..._shhhit_. One quick look at the watch confirms my fears, and I'm clomping in my heavy boots down the stairs. We're past our quota of fifteen minutes by almost thirty. Naruto and Ino are probably freaking out.

"Kakashi! We're thirty minutes late! We need to check back with Naruto and Ino!" Itachi looked up from the cans of food, raising an eyebrow.

"...and Sasuke." I add. I don't have anything against Sasuke, he's just, not really a priority for me.

Kakashi, supporting a pale Iruka, walks through the back door. I can see smoke behind them.

"Alright, I don't think Iruka's ok to walk, so he'll stay here with Itachi while we go and pick up the kids." He smiles and winks at me. I don't react, just wait for him to place Iruka gently into a table chair and close the back door.

"Smells better in here now Itachi, let's start closing the windows, build up some heat. Start the generator when you're ready." He nods to me, and I realize I left my shotgun in the back yard. I really don't want to go out there and retrieve it. My unease must have shown on my face... or something, Kakashi is just freakishly perceptive. He's walked back out the door and returns with my shotgun in hand.

"Lee, you know better than to leave this lying around." I nod, impatient to have the weapon back. Kakashi sighs and places the long barreled gun into my palms.

"Let's go."

* * *

_Naruto POV_

It's really warm. Sasuke's really warm. Ino doesn't look cold, but she's alone by the window. How could she not be cold? Ah, I hope Sasuke doesn't mind sharing this quilt. I'm kind of curled up on him though. I wonder if I've cut off the circulation to his legs. His warm chest at my back swelling and deflating with his breath, it's really comforting, like what I'd imagine being in my father's lap would be like. His arms are around my waist, hands laced together on my lap.

...Ok, to be honest, I was a little pissed with the bastard for throwing me in here. But then he got all cuddly and stuff, and somehow I found myself in his lap. I suppose I should be worried about what Ino thinks, I mean, we're both guys. I'm sitting on the bastards lap like... like, well... hmm. It could be paternal, Sasuke is taller, he looks stronger, and maybe it's like a protective thing...**What!**

"Ouch! What the hell Naruto?" Sasuke rubbed his side that I'd viciously elbowed.

"I'm not fucking weak! I don't need your protection!" Sasuke raises both eyebrows

"...ok."

...ok.

_huh_? That's it? I stare at him. Waiting for him to insult me, or push me out of the quilt, or _something_. He just leans his head on the seat and stares back at me.

...ok then.

"They've been gone well past fifteen minutes." Ino fogs the cracked driver's door window with her breath.

"Is that how long they said they'd be gone?" I shift on Sasuke's lap, how long _have_ they been gone?

"M-hmm." Ino hums the affirmative; never turning from the glass her breath continually fogs.

"How late are they?" Sasuke voices my thoughts.

Ino finally glances away from the window towards her wrist, and then her gaze is back through the window.

"Almost forty minutes." I frown.

"Well, that's worrying." I mutter, snuggling back into Sasuke's chest for warmth... and comfort. My frown deepens. _and...comfort...?_

_Seriously_? How could this jerk comfort me? He couldn't. I'm just very cold. I've always gotten cold easily.

Despite my mental berating, I feel warmth coloring my cheeks... Unfamiliar territory, that's were these thoughts are taking me. And I _don't like it._

Suddenly I want to sit by myself. I pry Sasuke's restricting hands apart and crawl over the seat, out of the blanket. Sasuke grunts and pulls me back.

"Moron, it's cold."

"Dun care! I'm hot!" Mortified, I think that noise I just made is what most would call a squeak.

"_Are you?" _Sasuke's growled tone sends chills down my spine. The chills raise goose bumps all along my neck, where his nose is currently buried, my back arches away from his chest unconsciously and I'm thinking if I don't get out of his lap I'm going to have a panic attack.

"_Eep_!"

Fuck! I did it again! Well, I don't think I can be blamed with Sasuke rubbing circles with his thumbs against my hips like that; it's highly distracting, damn it! Too distracting to focus on what I sound like.

"I-I, uh, mm Sas-Sasuke..." stuttering... I've been reduced to stuttering. His thumbs are moving slower and slower, going slow, so painstakingly slow.

"S-stop. I really am, uhn, I'm hot, so, lemme go." His lips press to my ear, and I freeze.

"Stay."

_Oh shit oh shit oh shit_

Then the side door opened, and I almost cry in relief at the cold air that douses my burning face, bringing me coherent thought.

"Well, well, I see you kept him warm Sasuke." Nooo, he did distracting weirdness! Save me Kakashi!

"We found a place; Iruka and Itachi are there now. Ino scoot over and let Lee in so he can drive us there, I'll sit in the back." Ino scuttled over and the driver's side door opened and closed, Lee shaking the snowflakes from his bowl cut black hair. Shivering, he settles in his seat.

"N-no! I'll sit in the back Kakashi!" Sasuke's arms tighten almost squeezing the breath out of me. Kakashi shakes his head slowly.

"No can do kiddo. Don't want you catching a cold." FUCK!

"Moron."

"Shut your face Bastard!"

**TBC.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:** Beta-ed by Neon-Panda!

_Chapter updated 1-30-2011_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, no money is made from this fic.

-Chapter 6 Sasuke's POV-

_I saw her face and watched her die in red, I'll never ever forget those beautiful eyes- There's so much blood, all over this place- There's so much blood, it's on everything- I shot the maid – Greeley Estates_

* * *

I shift him ever so slightly, his small sturdy frame fits well in my arms. This thought raises goose bumps along my arms. He's so damn lovely. He makes _this_ so damn easy. _This_, being me coming to terms with what I'm feeling for the blonde.

A-aand there he goes again, trying to shift off my lap to sit on the trucks floor. Christ moron, it's not like I have a hard on... yet... Why is he so jumpy? Besides, he's warm, though he doesn't really smell all that great...understandably. It's not his fault... but I really want to tease him about it. Though, quite frankly, I don't smell any better than him.

Hmm, a shower would be nice. We could shower together, we are _partners_... it's in the interest of preserving water... and checking my blonde over...and maybe he'd drop the soap somewhere along the way, I know how clumsy he is.

Oh shit, he should sit on the floor now. Don't want to freak him out. Aaah don't squirm so much idiot...

I exhale slowly, albeit infinitesimally shaky. Naruto's trying to adjust his thighs so that he's sitting closer to the door, Stupid moron.

The truck's slowing down, I glance out the window and my eyes are drawn to a trail of murky smoke billowing into the clouded sky from behind an orange house... _Orange_? Really?

"Oh! Eeyore? Is that the safe house? Cool, its Orange! What're ya burning in the back yard Eeyore? Why didn't ya just start a fire inside the house, it has a chimney, so there must be a fireplace somewhere." Naruto chirped animatedly at Lee.

Augh! Naruto, don't fucking bounce like that! I wince, and let out another held breathe, a tad shakier than the last.

Oblivious blonde _freakin' idiot _in my lap is oblivious.(*)

I'm _this_ close to shoving him against the door and grinding against him till I orgasm. I think that he would probably make the decision to kill me. On the grounds of sudden out of character behavior, and conclude I am a zombie.

Or maybe, he'd want to chain me to the truck and study me. Like with Ted... Fred...G_eorge_? whoever. Naruto chaining a zombie to a truck for an entire month for the sole purpose to examine it brings to mind extremely kinky things... damn it it's hot under this blanket.

Itachi heard the story from Kakashi about the janitor of their apartment building who got infected in the second month of infection. Naruto had the idea to knock it out and handcuff the thing to a truck to better understand what they were up against. Itachi thought this was hilariously productive, in a completely suicidal kinda way, and deigned it interesting to tell me about it to see my reaction.

I snorted. What a moron.

Itachi warned me that Naruto was _obviously_ extremely reckless when a situation only endangered himself... that kind of pisses me off.

"Bodies." Lee's reply is curt. Short, like he doesn't want to elaborate, or doesn't feel the need to. Naruto stops squirming, hell, he stops _breathing_ for a few seconds. He's completely still... and it worries the hell out of me.

I immediately glance over at Lee; his eyes are narrowed, dark and set straight ahead, face tense. The truck pulls to a stop in front of the house, Lee shifts into park and cuts the motor. He opens the door, pauses and turns to Naruto, who's leaning into me unconsciously. Lee's eyes soften and he mumbles lowly-

"Th' house has a genny in the side porch, electricity works. Ino, there's a washing machine in the basement, though there's about a foot of water flooding it. Naruto, plug-ins work, if you want to bring your TV and game system inside go for it. Kakashi said we'd stay here for a few weeks depending on how often we encounter zombies, so think of this as somewhat of a vacation. Relax, be at ease, and enjoy your youth, as you usually do." With that he gave a small smile and climbed down to the pavement.

"Laundry Machine! Eeek! Lee you are fuggin amazing! Finding a house with working electricity and a working laundry machine! I love yoooouuu!" Ino scrambled after him and slammed the driver's door shut with an exuberant yell.

Naruto's opened the side door and tiny flickers of white droplets float and swirl around him. He hops out of the blanket, leaving an icy empty place that raises goose bumps all along my flesh and makes me flinch. Aaah cold air, against an impending withering hard on... I'm not sure whether to be grateful or to curse Naruto for opening the door. I sit in the truck to gather my thoughts for a moment, watch Naruto walk around the yard, stretching, examining the sky and occasionally his surroundings. Snow floats around him giving him the appearance of an angel descended from the clouds with wisps still clinging to his features... FUCK- That is _it_!

"Naruto!" I bellow stepping out of the truck. He flinches, almost trips over his feet, I trot over to him and reach him just as he turns, eyes wide with a mixture of annoyance and wariness.

"What'd I do-Mmph!"

Cerulean eyes stare bewildered, and a little frightened, up into mine, but his lips are so warm and welcoming, albeit a little chapped. I can't help but slowly drag the tip of my tongue along the seam of his lips, brushing inside to his teeth ever so slightly. He's completely frozen in my arms, my hands glide up and down his outer thighs, then rest on his back. I massage his lower back, rubbing firm muscles, going lower and higher at different intervals, noting with triumph the way his eyes are slowly clouding, eyelid's lowering. He presses into me a tiny bit and I smirk into his lips. His eyes are slits when he opens his teeth a tad to breathe in, my tongue invades instead with the tenacity of a starved man eating his first meal in weeks, and Naruto jerks away from my hands, stumbling back a few steps.

His eyes open slowly, takes in my appearance and he looks bewildered, as though this is the first time he's ever seen me.

"Y-...you, what-..." he inhales shakily, I'm surprised he hasn't blushed yet, Oh- there he goes. With the cute blush that colors his entire face all the way to the tips of his ears, comes realization, his eyes widen and then narrow, his lips pull back into a snarl, and I can't help but smirk. A little late Moron.

"You _Bastard_! What The Fuck was _That_?" I hear deep chuckling behind me and my smirk freezes on my face. Oh hell.

"That, little Naruto, was a kiss. That my foolish little brother failed to find any other way to express his feelings for you is no surprise to me. However, I ask you to forgive his emotional retardation and consider his feelings, which I think, you could learn to return." Naruto gaped open mouthed at Itachi, who, judging by his voice, was repressing another evil chuckle and smirking like the devil himself. I unfreeze and turn to Itachi; eye's narrowed in a glare.

"Fuck No! T-the Bastard just up and.. and... that, he-..." Naruto descends into mumbles, gaze falling with each word to settle on his black and white traditional converse, face still pink.

"Kisses the daylight's out of you, moron?" I provide, smirk back in place. His blonde hair snaps around his face and his blue eyes spit figurative sparks when they meet mine.

"You, you... Aaargh!" He turns and dashes madly into the orange house slamming the door open whilst screaming for Ino.

I share a wince with my brother at the way the glass rattles in the windows, due to the collision with the heavy metal door into the wall. That'll leave a dent.

Itachi places a hand on my shoulder, I shrug it off immediately, but not before he clunks a can of condensed milk into my palms. Fingers curling instinctively around the metal, I blink at the can for a moment before turning incredulous eyes on my brother's smirking face.

"Lee found something interesting in one of the houses we searched. Then commented on a wish expressed by our little Naruto..." _Our? _I twitch inwardly.

"So, here's a way to make peace and try again. Foolish little brother." With that he pulls me by the collar of my sweater into the house before I smack his hand away, then he leads me to a basket in a thoroughly marauded kitchen. Canned food spread out all over the place, cabinet doors wide open, fridge being duck taped shut by a grimacing Iruka...?

...ummmm.

Iruka straightens and winces.

"Don't ask. I opened the door and something green and yellow with antennae stocks was growing on a plate... it _growled_ at me." Itachi and I exchange a slightly uneasy glance. _Note to self_, avoid kitchen fridges in the future. A small mewling interrupted my thoughts; I glance down into bright yellow slit-pupil eyes.

_Oh_...

Can we say _Eureka_? The pure black kitten blinked slowly up at me, then opened its tiny pink mouth and mewed again.

"It's hungry. Little guy's been crying for a while now." Iruka places the roll of tape on the counter beside him and dusts his hands off on his slacks.

"So I take it Kakashi and Lee are back with the kids?" Iruka asks while sliding open a drawer and rummaging around.

Kakashi sauntered into the kitchen and smiled while he answered.

"Yes, all safe and sound. Iruka... why is the fridge taped shut?" Kakashi's head cocked slightly to the side as he examined the silver tape.

"Ah..." Iruka paused, and sheepishly glances at us, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

Kakashi shakes his head slowly.

"I don't want to know... do I..." was that a question?

"It will successfully put you off your lunch for a few days, Kakashi. That aside, I have something I'd like to discuss with you. Will you join me in the back yard?" Itachi stepped towards a door I assume leads into the back yard. Kakashi lifts an eyebrow curiously and nods, making to follow Itachi, who pauses upon opening the door.

"Ah, Sasuke, I'm sure Naruto will want to feed his new kitten, so why don't you hurry and present it to him..." Itachi smirked at my cocked eyebrow. He's being rather... accommodating about this.

I close my eyes and shake my head. Evil always follows pleasant with Itachi. I _really_ shouldn't let my guard down. But, I have a moron to discreetly seduce while inconspicuously asking for forgiveness. This kitten should help. I lift the kitten by the scruff of its neck, it writhes and yowls scratching at my wrist and Iruka grunts.

"Naruto see's you handling it like that I don't think he'll forget whatever it is you did to make him run caterwauling through the house." He sniffs and turns the sink on to rinse out a small bottle, then inspects the bottle with a critical eye. He nods firmly and places the bottle in my arms with the re-situated kitten and the can of milk.

"Ok, go beg forgiveness or whatever." Iruka dismisses me with a turn of his head and goes back to organizing the cans of food.

Right... I stand hesitantly at the bottom of the stairs leading to our shared room. I can hear Ino and occasionally Naruto's voice conversing upstairs. I look down at the kitten that just gouged its claws into my arm and mewed.

"Ow." I tell it dryly. It blinks up at me in reply. Right you little fucker. Time to meet your mommy.

* * *

_Kakashi's POV_

Disturbing, odd feelings of Déjà vu...

Why are there pieces of plastic and wire melted into the bone marrow of the incinerated adults? Itachi, unperturbed, cracked another femur open with the heel of his boot and amidst the dark red and black I discerned more tiny balls of melted plastic. Wire grew along the sides and sometimes poked out of the tiny lumps, and even more disturbing, the adult's interior skulls are lined with in-grown wires. _What the hell are they_?

"...What the hell is _this_." Itachi shifted sparkling, hardened, curious black eyes up to meet mine. I can only shrug.

"It didn't sit right with me, that a whole neighborhood would commit suicide, that every house had bodies' dead from self inflicted wounds... but, this... just _what the fuck is this_?" Itachi's voice is dull, deadened, but there is force behind every word he mutters at me.

"Have you checked the, younger bones?" I can't bring myself to think... or say 'the _children's_ bones', because I'm certain I'd lose my nerve if I thought about it. Itachi pauses, panic flits through his eyes, then they're deadened again, and a terrible resolve fills me. I follow suit with Itachi's example, deaden my emotions. It takes a few minutes, but I realize eventually that I've cut my personal feelings to the quick; I raise a foot, and crush it down on a tibia.

_Crack._

The bones flinch around my foot, I lift my boot to reveal empty marrow. It's clean of lumps of hardened wire and plastic. _Only in the adults..._

Itachi steps to my side, face looking over my shoulder. He grips my arm in his hand crushingly, I can tell he's quietly raging.

"Maybe, Kakashi, we shouldn't be here." I couldn't agree more... yet...

"We have all night to think this through. For now, don't say anything to the others, Early tomorrow morning, just you and me. We'll check the other houses again, this time, we'll be thorough, examine the adult bodies a little better when they haven't been burnt to a crisp. This might be an isolated incident, or... this might..." I trail off eyes lowering. I don't understand what's going on. I want to know, and I _will_ get answers before I leave. Itachi releases my arm and clenches his fist.

"You think... this might have something to do with infection...?" He mutters. I blink slowly.

"Dunno." I turn to face him.

"I don't know but, I'm going to find out."

* * *

**(1)**That oddity was intentional...see LOLcats or some other LOLness from Icanhazacheezeburger (dot) com

Individual thanks to - _Darkloverkitsune, atrumdraco, Killercat-nya, FreetodrinkSR, Spyrea, 7andthefluff, Solitare 1, Amanda, Monkeyface17, Squeeb, KatrinaEagle, SasuNaru Lover, animelove 20, zakunai_, and _UchihaAkimoto. _

_Thanks for the reviews :D  
_


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:** Beta-ed by Neon-Panda!

_Chapter updated 1-30-2011_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, no money is made from this fic.

-Chapter 7 Naruto POV-

_I should've known the tides were getting higher. We can still survive. They think we're drowning but our heads are still above the waves. – A Prophecy - Asking Alexandria._

* * *

"Rock that body -c'mon c'mon rock that body-" I muttered along with Black eyed peas pounding through the head phones, one hung in my ear the other sat on my shoulder. Eyes focused on my character running around on the screen set up on the floor, hands twitching around a game controller settled comfortably in my palms. I sit lazily on the air mattress between two beds. Ino sat on the bed to my left, folding clothes and occasionally muttering something almost inaudible... or maybe it was audible. I'm not paying attention.

Really need to repair this stupid gun...

I widen my eyes in dismay; a large rust-colored humanoid monster shoots my character's skull half way across the screen.

"ARGH! Nooooo! It's Death! Dammit Ino!" Ino's exasperated with me; she smacks the back of my head with a shirt she was folding. My head jerks forward and the headphones clatter to the floor.

"Shaddup, I didn't do anything. You should pause that stupid game and help me fold clothes Naruto. You come up here screaming for my attention, I'm giving it to ya and you're getting all side-tracked. Idiot." She muttered the insult under her breath.

I resolutely ignore Ino, focusing instead on the screen displaying my character's untimely demise with distaste.

Fucking super mutants. Killing my noob character.

It's all Sasuke's fault. He's gonna pay for this. I snap my teeth down on the piece of hard caramel candy in my mouth, swirl it agitatedly around with my tongue, clicking against my teeth.

Yeah, He'll pay. I'll push him into a polluted river. Oh, he might get infected if there are bodies floating in it, and more often than not, there are. Oo-k I'll admit, that's a dumb plan- Something else then.

I'll shave his eyebrows off, wait... no... That's just stupid, and overused. The only ones who'll laugh at him are us... unless the zombies have a sense of humor... which they don't. I know because when we were still at the apartments I spent hours trying to make zombie Fred crack a smile. He just drooled, yanked at the cuffs securing him to the truck and tried to chew on me.

Fucking Sasuke, why'd he... do that?

Wait, wait...Zombies' personalities are different when they change. Well, maybe nonexistent... the only things they do all day is thrash around, dent things, break bones, bite things, eat people and run in circles... or something.

Maybe Sasuke is a zombie hybrid... he got infected somehow, his personality changed, but instead of wanting to eat people, he wants to molest people... Oh sweet monkey Christ! He licked inside my mouth! He licked Me! I'm infected! I'm not a freaky hybrid! I'll turn into a zombie!

I scream...in a manly way.

"AAAARGH!"

Ino jumped up from where she sat cross-legged on the bed, resulting in her not uncrossing her legs in time to gain the balance needed for standing... which caused her to crash to the floor on her back.

I fall over on my side- snickering. Okay, I'm definitely laughing.

"Naruto..."

I stop mid laugh, in terror of Ino- almost choking on my hard candy, then giggling at the noise I made when I choked- before I detect the imminent doom descending upon my person.

Ouch...

Ok, I deserved that.

Besides, the hearty punch she gave me, that sent me crashing into the wall, effectively cleared my thoughts of panic, enough for me to determine that No, I'm not turning into a zombie. I'd have changed when Sasuke licked me, which I hadn't... which is kinda disappointing, because that dumps my 'Sasuke's weird behavior can be blamed on Zombie virus infestation of his brain' excuse on its head.

Meaning I have to figure out another reason...

I blow a puff of frustrated air out of my mouth and slink back over to the air mattress.

Ino's huffily refolding a pile of clothes she knocked over when she fell. I turn to her cautiously, examining her for signs that she might deteriorate back into a 'kill-Naruto-till-he-dies' state of mind, before working up the courage to squeak,

"Ino... some guys like guys, some girls like girls, and some guys like girls just as much as some girls like guys...but Sasuke is not a guy. He is a Bastard- and Bastards don't like guys, Bastards don't like anything."

Ino stopped folding when I got to the bastard part. She stares at me, opens her mouth, then closes it. She blinks at me for a few moments while I wait patiently for her opinion on the situation... then I realize, I haven't really told her the Situation.

I just ran up here yelling insults directed at Sasuke, paced around the room a few times until she tripped me on purpose, then directed my attention at the Xbox 360 she took the liberty of setting up for me, plunked a controller into my fist and the next thing I knew I was suddenly mashing triggers and killing an assortment of mutated creatures.

Ino's got mad distraction skills.

"What the hell are you going on about, moron." Sasuke's voice drawls, the door is pushed open and Sasuke stood in the doorway, arms full.

I freeze where I sit, my face pales and I scramble into the closet, slamming the door shut behind me, holding onto the door knob for dear life.

"Oi! Naruto!" Whoa, did Sasuke just call me by my name? Really? The door knob suddenly twists; I yelp and grip it harder.

"mew."

Eh?

"Meow."

What the hell?

"What have you been smoking Sasuke? Why are you impersonating a cat all of a sudden? You're a sick bastard, ya know that?" I smirk at the door when the door knob is released and Sasuke audibly sighs exasperatedly.

Ino squeals.

Wha? Wait...

Is Sasuke molesting Ino?

That BASTARD!

"Hands Off the Lady you fucking Molester!" I scramble with the doorknob, shove the door open and my face smashes into Sasuke's chest.

"Oof." Something soft and fuzzy and warm squirms between us. I wince, rub my nose and look down, a black kitten looks up.

Our eyes meet.

It's love.

"Hn. Moron."

* * *

_Unknown POV_

"Carriers on grid 5-D, block #003 Sir. Kraken has reported four adolescents and three male adults."

I shift my stance, arms crossed.

"How are they equipped?" the male sitting in front of a multitude of gleaming screens places a hand to his ear.

"Sir, that information is incoming as we speak. They incinerated the bodies of numbers 011 and 015. Should we make contact to assess the damage?"

Incinerated? Why would they do that? Some misguided sense of respect for the deceased? It is no matter, 011 and 015 served their purpose.

"No, it is no loss, all information that could be acquired was gathered. Keep an eye on the carriers for now. We don't need to interfere. Inform me if the status of Carriers change." I turn and walk through the tent flaps.

I stalk across the concrete ground, white lab coat flailing behind me, and head for a bunker leading to my basement facility.

The compound I'm standing in is secured by thick concrete walls stretching over four stories high. The infected are of no consequence here. Armed men in uniform walk along metal guard shacks raised 12 feet off the ground; the gates are locked and heavily fortified. Nothing gets in, or out, without my consent. Akatsuki built this compound in the middle of Toluca Lake just for my, and the other Head Scientists', use.

Speaking of my colleagues...

Tsunade, she's a real pain in the ass. What gave her the right to use my last batch of sterile humans to test that ridiculous theory that she could control the D-virus if it was administered in minute amounts? She's so focused on figuring out how to stop the D-virus without killing the host she hasn't recognized that we need to find a cure or breed more clean humans. Intolerant wasteful woman.

With her morals, one would think finding a cure would be ever present in her mind.

Ah well, her tenacity with her present task is a redeeming feature of hers, I suppose. It's a quality we both share at times, the desire to lock ourselves in with our research and not surface until we've succeeded with our goals.

"Orochimaru, there you are." Damn, I know that gravel voice. He isn't due to inspect till the twenty fifth.

"Mind telling me why there are carriers residing in a restricted Red Zone?"

I turn on my heel, plaster a simpering smile on my face, and greet Danzo- the old, wrinkly, crippled, scarred financier of my research and President of the former Konohagukure Corporation; Multinational Supplier of Medical and Biochemical Supplies.

Now we just like to call it Akatsuki.

"Danzo, you're here early. The carriers are not a threat; they'll stay for a few days and then leave. There is nothing to worry from them." He keeps cold uncompromising black eyes focused on mine. His wheel chair is backed by the tall demon like bodyguard, Zabuza, former high ranking Mafioso.

"Don't sneer at me, Orochimaru, You and I both know Zone F is a highly classified experimental region, What if those Carriers find something they shouldn't? I want them out of that district by tomorrow or you can find another supplier." He sits in his wheelchair talking up at me, yet I don't feel the slightest inclination to disrespect him. Of course that may have something to do with Zabuza's presence. Or that I really don't want to lose his support.

You want World Domination, this man's got it.

Especially now since we executed the final experiment, introduced dormant strands of the viruses into the water supply of the largest cities in the world; Tokyo, New York, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, to name a few- and waited for Carriers, people infected with the dormant virus, to die. And people would die; we wouldn't even need to provide the means. People die every day, in every way; car accidents, murder, suicide. It hardly took a day before the strain of infection mutated in the deceased, reanimating cells, causing them to rise from wreckage, off examining tables, lurching through morgues and the like. The mutated strands became contagious in the deceased bodies and predictably the deceased infected the living.

It took mere weeks for the infection to spread over each individual continent. People panicked, Government's crumbled, chaos reigned. Or so it seemed.

Danzo is, undoubtedly, a conniving bastard.

A conniving, powerful, bastard.

For example;

The different strands of the virus were released on different continents, separated by oceans. In North/South Americas the RA-virus, In Africa the R-virus, Recessive, and in Asia/Europe the D-virus, Destructive, Australia is where HQ is stationed.

Australia got a heavy dose, a mixture of the D-virus and the R-virus, and the population was almost completely annihilated. The viruses would not coincide and the infected recognized each other as prey and devoured each other. Eventually, Australia became almost uninhabited, the wildlife, however, is flourishing. Animals are better equipped to survive than most humans.

The RA-virus is a mixture of the Recessive virus and a disease commonly recognized as rabies. The Recessive virus helped in the mutation of the rabies where it affected humans in a much more potent way then the original rabies sickness. It was absolutely fascinating and is without a doubt, my favored virus. It is probably the most complex of all three viruses and hardest to contain.

While all three viruses share aspects; reanimate cells, infect easily, only the RA-Virus displays the characteristics desired of it.

D-virus destroys it's infected too quickly. While mixing it with the R-virus halted the D-viruses' natural destruction of cells in the body, it should not be used on the masses because of the confusing scent. The infected ultimately will turn on each other and we'd have another Australia on our hands.

R-virus produces passive infected (non-aggressive) who can be herded together and killed with little fear of infection. They are stupid useless cattle. The virus reanimates cells, but does not prompt the body to produce more cells, thus the infected die within weeks.

But, without the R-virus, the RA-virus would be a failure, so it serves its purpose.

Sadly, none of the viruses prompt the infected bodies to produce cells; The RA-virus generally kills those not already dead and reanimated, causing the bodies to rot away. Bones cannot walk by themselves. And that is not even relative, as we are not ultimately hoping for zombie-like creatures with these viruses. We are trying to find the ultimate goal for humans; Everlasting Life.

And if it takes killing over half the world's population to reach that goal, well, somehow I feel the ends justify the means. Immortality is a heavy burden; it makes sense that the price for finding it would be almost irrevocably high.

"Of course, Danzo. I'll see to it myself." Placated, Danzo motions to Zabuza, and is wheeled through double doors into the pristine upper laboratories. I exhale my tension; about-face and walk back to the tent housing our temporary command center.

"Lieutenant." I bark upon re-entering the dark interior of the tent. He stands from his chair and faces me.

"Sir?"

"Any updates?"

He shook his head, replying:

"No sir, to gather any more information we'd have to infiltrate." I sigh, close my eyes and rub my temples.

"Tell Kisame to stay where he is. Observe the Carrier's actions and await further instruction."

Order relayed, I turn to exit, ignore the lieutenant's respectful farewell and make for my earlier destination. I'll tell Kisame to chase off the Carriers tomorrow. Right now I've got Tsunade to find and interrogate on her progress.

* * *

_Itachi's POV_

My exhaled breath froze visibly in the air. Snow fell silently, covering the charred remains of the family that once lived here. Iruka sat next to me, his eyes on the night sky.

"Are you going to confide in me, or are you just going to continue to sit out here and stew in whatever has you in this state?" his voice is airy, like he's commenting on the weather. I shift my wrists, clasp my fingers and lean against the back door.

We're sitting on the steps, Iruka's waiting for a timer to go off for dinner, I'm mulling over different theories, trying to understand.

"Quite frankly, Iruka, I think you're better off not knowing." I sigh, creating another white cloud in the freezing air.

"Hmm. You are a young adult, and while I acknowledge the fact that you are more than capable of deciding what you can and cannot handle, sometimes it's ok to be a little selfish and speak without thinking. If it is to someone you trust they should know you well enough to take whatever you have to say, in stride." I blink.

Feeling somewhat irritated, I turn slightly narrowed eyes on Iruka, who ignores me and stands, brushing dirt off his backside.

"Be that as it may, I don't relish disillusioning the people I'm close too. Isn't it wiser to figure things through on your own, and feel confident in what you've realized, before saying whatever you please without a care for the consequences?"

It was a rhetorical question. He knew it, but his eyes are soft, empathetic. He pushes the back door open and smiles down at me.

"Itachi, somehow that feels like an excuse not to trust..." he turns his face away and sighs, frowning slightly.

"Maybe, you're right, and we should be careful all the time, even around the people we love. But sometimes, saying whatever you please without a care for the consequences is like creating an opportunity for someone to get closer to you. Sometimes it can be a good thing. Even if it's not at the time."

Ah, Iruka. Wise and stupid. It is always productive to think before you speak. I can see the merit in what he says, yet I cannot believe it. It sounds too much like a spoiled child expecting love from its parents for no better reason than maternal bonds. The child does not recognize that it expects unconditional love, does not do it in greed or because it feels obligated. A child can love and be loved wholeheartedly because it does not acknowledge.

And when it does realize, that unconditional love becomes too little. People desire meaning behind the actions that bring them together. People are fickle and foolish and frightened of each other.

Iruka's fingers snap in front of my eyes. I blink and look up at him bemused.

"You looked like you were trying to glare holes into the core of the earth." He chuckled.

"C'mon Itachi. The timer went off, it's time to eat." I tilt my head, watching him step inside.

Standing on stiff legs, I stretch, then flinch at a resounding crash that echoes through the house.

I jerk through the doorway, eyes widening when I see Sasuke lying flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling, eyes dazed. Naruto's standing over, him head thrown back, laughing; a tear slides from the side of his eye and plunks down on the black kitten cradled in his arms. The kitten meows piteously and shakes its head tussling his ears around.

"Oh my god, Sasuke are you ok? What happened? Naruto! Stop laughing you little brat!" Iruka scowls at Naruto, who bends over holding his stomach with one hand, still laughing. Iruka continues scolding an obliviously mirthful Naruto; I walk over and help Sasuke to his feet. He blinks at me; halfheartedly twists his neck, winces and sighs.

"Don't ask. Naruto got his revenge. Let's leave it at that."

I raise an eyebrow; examine the small blush that stains my brothers pale cheeks, then turn to Naruto with an approving tilt of my mouth.

"Ooh, he, ha-hah-" Naruto is incapable of speech. The kitten clings for dear life onto his shoulder.

"Are you trying to make Mogget() throw up moron? Shake him around anymore and he might. We just fed him." Sasuke's obviously trying to distract Naruto's attention away from whatever he'd done to Sasuke. It works. Naruto stills almost immediately, casting a worried glance on the small kitten that mews at him.

"Sorry little Mogget, sorry." Naruto coos, gently removing the kitten's claws from his shoulder.

"Mogget?" I ask. It's a strange name. Why would he name the kitten that? Sasuke looks appeased and stealthily messages the back of his head. I smirk and Naruto answers gleefully.

"It's from a book. A really powerful entity was contained against his will with a miniature necromancer's bell attached to a collar. He liked to take the form of a small white cat."

"So, it's like naming the cat after a Greek God?" Iruka asks, eyeballing the small black kitten. Naruto nods enthusiastically.

"Sure, but it's better because I don't really care about the Greek myths. But I liked the book I read."

Iruka raises both eyebrows.

"Ok, whatever. Come and eat. We're having instant noodles." Naruto cheered and danced around Iruka.

"I love you 'ruka!" Naruto smothered Iruka in hugs before snuggling the kitten joyously.

Lots'a love... all around.

Sasuke looks jealous, Iruka blushes, I smirk; the kitten looks a little crushed.

"It's just ramen, Naruto." Iruka mutters. Ino stomps down the stairs, corn silk hair loose around her face.

"Heh, Naruto is a ramen-aholic Iruka. It's his addiction." She provides, prodding Naruto, who nods happily.

"Smells like ramen." Lee's dry voice precedes his and Kakashi's entrance. They're wrapped up in coats and little flecks of snow drip steadily from their hair. They'd obviously just finished setting up defenses around the house. From what Kakashi told me earlier, nothing as dangerous as explosives would be used so close to the house. Instead, it was more of an alarm system and a distraction that, if triggered, would be used to draw attention away from the house we were in.

I noticed nothing had been unpacked really. Everything was always ready to be swept up and packed away into the truck in case of a need to escape. The teens picked up after themselves, walkways were never cluttered, exits were established very early on during our occupation, an hour ago we'd all been briefed on different strategies of escape and the alarm system being set up outside. Weapons were in clear sight all the time, I felt safe. I can't help but reaffirm the thought that they definitely know what they are doing.

"Let's eat! Let's eat! I'm dying here!" Naruto wailed. Sasuke smirked lightly, more of an amused tilt of an eyebrow and an accompanying small smile. Ino chuckled and glanced at Lee who peeled himself from the thick jackets he was wrapped in. Kakashi, likewise, shed himself of jackets, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, I'll agree with Naruto, I'm hungry." Kakashi runs a hand through damp silver-gray hair. Iruka's eyes never leave Kakashi's fingers as they run through messy strands, and Kakashi notices. He gives Iruka a slow wink. Iruka sputters and turns, blush darkening. Naruto's grin swiftly transforms into a sly near smirk and Ino rolls her eyes.

I'm only vaguely interested. Whatever develops between the two will remain unhindered by me. Kakashi is more than capable of going after what he wants.

Sasuke, however, requires a little nudge every now and then. And I, as his doting older brother, am more than capable of providing all the support he'd need.

With a smirk plastered on my face, I watch as Sasuke shifts inconspicuously near Naruto. Naruto is oblivious to the world as he slurps up noodles from the Styrofoam plate Iruka placed in his hands. The kitten weaves in and out between Naruto's ankles, purring softly. It painted a lovely picture, a ridiculously pink-tinted picture, and I can't keep my smirk from widening.

Little Sasuke's most definitely in Love.

* * *

_(1)Read 'Sabriel' by Garth Nix. Pwnsome Mogget is present throughout the Abhorsen trilogy._


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Itachi, is not, a pansy. I will never make him a pansy. As a matter of fact, the only OC character in canon Naruto that is remotely pansy is genin Sakura. This is an AU fic, the characters will all be inevitably a tad OOC. Can't be helped. However, I will do my absolute best not to make them flat boring predictable characters. So writing in depth characters takes a little time, isn't always appreciated because it sometimes isn't pulled off very well. I can't promise_ I'll_ be able to pull it off... because an individual's writing style is ultimately a reflection of that individual's personality right? Well, I'm a cynical boring panda. Let's hope this doesn't shine through any of my characters or the story, except maybe Sasuke, because I'm an evil wench who enjoys Sasuke's discomfort.

Now, this long Author's note was spurred by the sneaking suspicion that people would complain about my characterization of Itachi in this chapter. ... and that is all. I don't really have much else to say except Thank you again for the reviews.

So, Thaaank yooou. I've been sick this past week, headache, sore throat. That is my excuse for this obscene chapter.

oh yeah, I have found a lovely beta reader, so I will be reposting previous chapters. Nothing much should change as far as the plot or story goes, I may choose to reword some things, but most should remain as you've already read it/

**Warning:** oh more angst pertaining Lee, I'm really not nice to poor bushy brows. But he'll be ok in the end.

**Disclaimer: **I own Nothing.

-------Chapter 8 Kakashi POV--------

_I may look happy, but honestly dear, the only way I'll really smile is if you cut me ear to ear. - Chelsea Smile - Bring me the Horizon_

* * *

Disconcerted, I'm shaken from a dream that felt like I was reliving an old memory by a wide eyed Iruka.

"Kakashi, something is _out there_." Those words jarred me to consciousness, heart speeding, muscles tensing involuntarily. I stretch to loosen them as I slide a ratty red sweatshirt over my bare chest. Iruka clenches his hands at his sides, his honey colored lips are pulled back baring gleaming teeth in the dim light, a mixture of fear and worry sharpening his usually soft features.

"Stay put, don't wake the kids. Where's Itachi?" I glanced at the vacant mattress that had held a drowsy Itachi earlier this night. Iruka nodded to the open door.

"I woke him for his shift, he went downstairs and I was just drifting off when he woke me back up, told me to wake you and tell you he saw something. He's back downstairs loading an AK..." he trails off, his arms cross over his chest hugging himself, he's hunched against the wall, eyes narrowed, form anxious. The sight causes a sharp quick twinge in my chest, without a thought I grip Iruka's tense arms and pull him against my chest, stoking his hair and neck.

"It'll be ok." I murmur, noting how quickly he relaxes against me. He presses his face against my shoulder and exhales slowly. I pull him from me and lower my face slightly to meet his downcast eyes.

I quirk my lips, his brown eyes meet mine, I force myself to calm any latent fear that could be visible in my eyes. His lips quirk into a half smile to match mine. Then I squeeze his arms and release him. His watching eyes never leave my face until I walk out the door and soundlessly creep down the stairs. Itachi meets me at the bottom, almost startling me when his pale skin emerges soundlessly from the darkness of the house. The guy moves like a cat, swift, confident, no wasted movements.

"The alarms haven't gone off Kakashi," He mutters, sliding my glock into my fist. He moves back into the darkness, ebony eyes glinting.

"-What does that mean?" it's a rhetorical question; he only spoke it out loud to get my thoughts moving along the same lines as his.

I turn to glance sharply at his face. His eyes, dark as his surroundings, study me, patiently waiting for my analysis.

No alarms... what _does_ that mean? The infected haven't proven themselves graced with the ability to act coherently, formulate plans, or avoid traps. Either whatever's out there isn't infected, or it hasn't gotten close enough to the house to trigger any of the distractions.

But, I don't have the full picture here_. What did Itachi see?_

"Itachi, what exactly did you see and where did you see it?"

He wordlessly led me through the dark living room; carefully peeled aside some of the duck tape used to blacken the windows and motioned for me to take a look through the glass.

The world outside is lightening, the sky mingling with heavy grey clouds is tinged dark blue, snow falls in random bouts, the street glistens with frost and the ground is almost completely covered in white. My eyes strain against the contrasting light and darkness, failing to differentiate anything unusual in the landscape. I almost jolt at the unexpected feeling of Itachi's breathe muttering against my ear.

"Look at the house on the left, grey roof, red wooden door-" my eyes move to the house. I blink, attentively searching out any details, one of the front windows is broken. _Was it like that yesterday?_

"Someone broke that front window recently. I heard it." I move my face away from the window and fix Itachi with a stare, signaling my full attention.

He frowns lightly, dark brows furrow in something akin to confusion.

"I saw _lights_, Kakashi. Someone is in that house. Someone _not_ infected..." he ran a long fingered pale hand through his black hair, the contrast is startling. I'm struck with the image of a fishes' underbelly flitting to the surface of a dark lake before being swallowed back into the depths. He shook his head, still distressed.

"I don't know, if we should go out and make our presence known..., but those _bodies_, and what if whoever that is has something to do with how weird this place is... I-" He pauses, eyes dark and searching.

"Kakashi, I have, no idea _what to do_. We don't have nearly enough information to act on; we don't have a clue what direction to even take. Should we pack up and leave in the morning, get as far away from this place as we can?" his brows furrowed even more; like he didn't like the idea of running away.

"Should we investigate this, maybe make sense of what we've seen...am I willing to endanger my little brother's life on such a gamble, that maybe we can uncover information about this?" His eyes are fierce when they bore into mine.

"Are _you _willing to endanger your surrogate family's lives on this gamble? And what happens then, what if we find out the reason those adults had wires imbedded into them, would it change our situation?" he clenched his teeth, showing more emotion than I've ever seen from him in the week we've been traveling together.

"Kakashi." His voice is dull, forced.

"_I don't know what to do."_

I'm standing here, prickling cold emanates from the window raising gooseflesh on the exposed skin of my neck. Itachi stands across from me, eyes narrowed teeth clenched, fingernails biting into his palms and it hits me just how much younger than me he is, he rarely acts that young, but he is.

Normally, age isn't a deciding factor of a man's personality, the respect he garners or the choices he makes. Under normal circumstances, if Itachi were a new recruit I was partnered with, I'd have him sit down and think this through on his own. The answer would already be clear to me, because I've seen a lot, done a lot; I've killed while on the job, twice. Under normal circumstances I would be calm, calculating, _distant._

It's the last resort, killing. You don't _want_ to do it, it's the fear that spurs you, or the anger. Police officers are trained to defend themselves though, if you're fired on, or if you feel threatened enough, you can unholster your weapon. In most cases, the gun at your side is purely intimidation. The catalyst of whether you can settle a dispute peaceably or not is most often how well you use that intimidation to manipulate a scenario.

These, however, are not normal circumstances, by any means... and it feels like Itachi has just pushed the age factor into my face.

_You're_ the oldest, most experienced; _you_ make the decision that will affect all our lives.

But, this is Itachi. And even if these were normal circumstances I don't think I'd be able to take what he just said as him placing the burden on my shoulders. He doesn't want me to make the decision for him, he wants my input, he wants a hold on the situation that I don't even have. A chill not originated from the window flutters through me, I can't give him peace of mind.

We've been standing here silently for well over twenty minutes. My legs are stiffening and I shift them to relieve some of the stiffness. It seems to bring Itachi out of his thoughts because he suddenly looks up at me with an almost pained expression.

"Kakashi. We need to wake the kids. I need to talk to Sasuke. I think this should be something everyone has a say in."

It complicates things, but I knew we'd eventually tell them. I nod my assent. Itachi moves to the shadowed stairs then pauses, eyes on the window hesitantly.

"I'll keep watch." I inform him. He blinks at me, face expressionless, then turns and jogs silently up the stairs.

I turn back to the window; pale light is filtering through the tape. I lean my back and head against the wall. I realize I'm still tired, and the odd dream I had is slowly coming back to me, now that I'm more awake I can focus on drudging it up. It _was_ a memory, from when my father was alive and an active member on the police force.

A homicide and something to do with one of the most influential businesses in the world...Konohagukure Corporation... one of their scientists was found dead in an alley. An autopsy performed on the body revealed odd results and the media was hounding my father for details.

Other than that, I remember my father's expression at dinner; we were in the back yard barbequing steaks and burgers. He and mom were talking about the work hours he'd been putting in lately. She was worried about him, he was tired and heavy bags adorned his usual bright intelligent eyes. The conversation steered to touch lightly on his current case, mom asked how konoha corps was dealing with the media, saying they should provide better shielding to the police investigators handling the affair.

Father's face completely shut down. Mom noticed, her eyes widened, her fork froze en route to her mouth. I'd never seen so much barely concealed contempt in my father's eyes before, but it flashed through them as mom quickly changed the subject.

The case was resolved almost a week later. The murderer was never found but Konohagukure was not sued by the scientists widow and the police could find no evidence of foul play on either Konoha's or the widow's part. We never spoke of it again, but father never supported anything having to do with Konohagukure. He made a point not too.

That happened almost 20 years ago. I don't know why I dreamed about it, maybe because Itachi's and Father's faces were so very similar for a moment. When Itachi had gripped my arm yesterday out in the backyard, his eyes were filled with confusion and a despairing kind of rage, pent up with no outlet, no one to blame. It's a funny thing, two men who are so careful to conceal their thoughts, my father and Itachi, and yet they both have the ability to feel so deeply about something.

* * *

_Lee's POV_

Itachi woke Naruto up last because Naruto is so much fun in the mornings. Note the sarcasm.

Upon opening his sleep clouded blue eyes, Naruto sneezed twice, fell limply from the edge of his bed, clunked to the grey carpet floor and stayed there while the rest of us pull warm clothes on.

It's maybe 6 in the morning. I'm what Naruto calls a morning person. Not that Naruto has much experience with my attitude during the AM. Naruto does his best to avoid mornings.

Sasuke is poking Naruto on his scarred cheek. Naruto tiredly swats at Sasuke's hand vocalizing his irritation with grunts.

Ino giggles in the corner; she's pulling an outfit out of Naruto's duffel.

"Don't coddle him in the mornings Ino, he's going to become dependent on you." I berate her lowly. Itachi leans against the wall, watching us covertly under his lashes.

Ino shuffles over and flings the clothes on Naruto's back.

"Wake up Sunshine. Itachi and Kakashi want our attention." Ino chirps into Naruto's ear.

Naruto mumbles something and rolls under the bed.

Sasuke chuckles, grabs a hold of Naruto's ankle and pulls him from under the bed. Naruto's night shirt rolls up his chest, his neon green Gir(1) sleeping cap is snagged off his head onto the floor and Naruto snarls and kicks out at Sasuke.

"Lee'mee alone!" Naruto digs and scratches at the carpet with his fingernails, trying to gain enough leverage to break from Sasuke's grip and crawl back under the bed.

Ino snorts while Sasuke raises an eyebrow but doesn't release the squirming Naruto's ankle.

"Fine, moron. " Sasuke tugs Naruto closer, leans over him placing one arm on either side of Naruto's hips; he captures Naruto's flailing legs underneath him and sits on his thighs.

"If you're not going to wake up, I guess I'll have to dress you." Sasuke smirks down at Naruto.

"All right, I'm awake! _Get Off_ you molester!" Naruto's blue eyes are wide, a pink indignant blush dusts across his face. I raise an eyebrow at this behavior. Sasuke is being a little more aggressive with his feelings now I see. As interesting and curious as this development is, Itachi and Kakashi's summons takes precedence over this, I'll have time to think on this later.

Sasuke shifts off of Naruto to sit on the bed.

Naruto warily watches him before scrambling up, grabbing the clothes Ino provided and flinging himself into the closet to change. Sasuke smirks at the closed closet door till a fuzzy sleepy black kitten tumbles into his lap. Mogget curls up in the crook of Sasuke's knees like he belongs there. Sasuke's only protest is the frown that curls his mouth down at the edges.

Itachi, surprisingly speaks up.

"That's rather adorable little brother. This picture's missing a petite blonde 19 year old though."

On cue a grumbling Naruto opens the closet door fully dressed, shooting Sasuke a black glare that melts as soon as it connects.

"Aaw my Mogget!" Naruto crawls up the bed to Sasuke's side and hovers over him.

"Poor kitty, were you cold? Sasuke'll keep ya warm, won't ya Sas?" Sasuke examines the fawning Naruto silently.

Itachi pushes himself from the wall and motions us all out the door. Ino catches Naruto's and Sasuke's attention, well more accurately she grabs Naruto by his arm and starts dragging him out the door.

Sasuke cradles Mogget in the fold of his right arm and follows. I'm last out the door and close it behind me.

Iruka follows us downstairs from the doorway to the elder's room with an apprehensive look on his face.

Kakashi leans against the living room wall next to a window emitting the only source of light. We all narrow our eyes, trying to see in the darkness.

"We've got company." Kakashi's voice is dry and low; eyes examine the floor in front of him, one hand raised to point briefly out the window. Eyebrows rise across the room.

"We don't know who they are. Normally we wouldn't hesitate to signal them, but-"He inhales deeply and looks up at each of us.

"Itachi brought to my attention abnormalities in the deceased bodies we burned yesterday. Imbedded into the skulls of the adults, only the adults, we found thin electrical wires and something similarly strange in their bone marrow. We were going to search through the surrounding houses today, Itachi and me, for any similarities in the other deceased. However, the situation has changed."

_What the hell?_ Is the general consensus of this entire situation, bewilderment is clear in everyone's eyes and body language.

Ino makes a small squawking noise in her throat. Naruto, face surprisingly blank, leans against the wall opposite of Kakashi, his blue eyes narrow on Kakashi's face in concentration. Sasuke is watching his older brother with a frown and Itachi shows no indication that he acknowledges. Iruka takes a hesitant step further into the dark room, confusion clear across his face.

"W-, wait, _wires_?" Iruka shakes his head slightly, obviously trying to wrap his mind around this. Kakashi gives him affirming short nod.

"Yes. Now before anything else is done, or said, _we_ as a group have a decision to make here, and I want you all to think about this decision keeping what you _now know _about the situation in mind." He paused, his eyes meeting all of ours briefly before continuing.

"There are _non infected_ in a house across the street. We don't know who, how many or if they have any connection with the abnormalities in the deceased bodies we burned. Now we can do one of three things.-" Kakashi crosses his arms across his chest.

"One, we can keep quiet, observe them for a while and put off further action till we're better informed-"

"Two, we can signal to them, shine a flashlight through the second story window, use Morse code or something-"

"Three, we can leave. Pack up quietly and go. Forget about the abnormalities and continue to live as we have been."

That third option has its obvious appeal. Too bad Naruto has an irrepressible talent for ignoring the obvious.

"I like that first option." Naruto says almost as soon as Kakashi closes his mouth. All eyes turn to him, most are duly incredulous.

Ino's are not. She nods slowly, her eyes narrowed and lips pursed.

"I like that idea as well. There are too many things we don't know about this situation. I want to understand." She said, voice firm.

Ino, and Naruto, sometimes I think they don't quite grasp the current reality. This is how life is, we don't do heroics. We accept the things we've done to survive, we don't ask why.

You'd think, after four months of surviving, they'd understand this. And, sometimes, I think Naruto has a stubborn inkling, Ino however follows Naruto when she hasn't had the time to make up her own opinion. She's not some weak minded fragile female, eager to gain recognition; she just loves and trusts Naruto. Though, I don't think she realizes how platonic the love she harbors for him is. She loves him like a mother would love her son, she doesn't realize it, but I've recognized the difference.

And it's for the best, as he's not interested in her like that in the slightest. I don't think Naruto's ever experienced loving someone more than a friend, or a family member. Maybe, he's just a very very good actor, because I've never seen that burning presence in his eyes when he looks at Ino. That familiar bittersweet emotion that tinged my sight when I looked at Temari is not present between the two.

"I... think the first option is the best also." Itachi's eyes never left Sasuke's as he said this. Sasuke's frown deepened, but that was the only reaction he had to his elder brother's words.

"Kakashi, you're opening this decision up for debate, because you've already formed theories on this situation," I mutter loud enough to be understood. Kakashi just watches me from against the wall, his black eyes glinting in the growing light.

"I'd, like to hear them... your theories. It might help in forming my own." Kakashi looks down at the floor, eyes carefully dull.

"I think, that right now, it doesn't matter what we do. We all came together, in the interest of self preservation. The unspoken terms for this convergence were we'd keep each other alive for as long as possible. Along the way, the terms evolved, we are emotional creatures after all. It'd make sense that we'd grow attached to each other, biase and personalization changed the terms minisculely to 'keep each other alive because we desire your presence', among other things." Kakashi uncrossed his arms and leaned away from the wall. He looked up and a small smile lit his face.

"I think that we can change the terms of staying alive and staying together a little more if we want to without regrets. That if we change the terms to, say 'Keep each other alive and find out what's going on' we'd have to make it a cemented goal. No going back on our words, no compromising. It's just another reason to live, in a world that is no longer presenting us with reasons left and right, we have to get a little creative."

Ah, Kakashi, you manipulative bastard.

"It's a nice thing to hear, but to actually do these things, I-"Iruka shakes his head, his doe brown eyes are wide.

"What about the kids? They're-" Kakashi raises a hand and cuts Iruka's worry strung voice off

"-as much as I admire the fact that you are willing to spoil the younger members of this group, Iruka, they've survived in this world for four months, just as you have. They've proven themselves capable of making a decision of this magnitude." Iruka looks slightly anguished at the thought, but bows his head and brings a hand up to massage his forehead.

"I just, don't want to lose anyone else." He murmurs. Ino wraps an arm around Iruka's shoulders and smiles into his face.

" 'ruka dear, you have nothing to worry or feel guilty about. Kakashi's right, we're capable youngsters. We get ourselves in and out of shit daily. It's just life. We'll be fine." Ino cajoles, her tone lightens the oppressive mood. Naruto grins toothily, Sasuke's frown eases slightly, Itachi displays a flat smile which is best described as gentleness in his eyes, and Kakashi nods complacently. Iruka produces a watery grin.

"Breakfast is in order; we can make our decision afterwards." Iruka warbles, ruffling Ino's hair fondly around her head. She smoothes her messy blonde hair down, slightly peeved but follows Iruka into the kitchen to help.

"I don't want to insult anyone here, because I know you all understand the full implications of actually staying here and waiting this out... but, have you really thought about this. I mean, yeah terms of survival and all that shit like you said Kakashi, but would it be worth it, I mean, whoever they were you burned in the backyard, they're dead." Sasuke paused and took a breath, then pinched the bridge of his nose and continued.

"How do we know that it's not just some medical procedure, they had brain cancer or something, or their bones were weak and they needed constant stimulation to keep from being crippled, that would explain the abnormality in their marrow, maybe-"

Sasuke's mini tirade was cut off by Itachi.

"Little Sasuke, the scenario you suggest is unlikely, due to a few reasons, foremost being the obvious financial funds needed for such an unheard of procedure. And the chances of both adults having the same exact ailments that would require the exact same procedure is unflinchingly low. Cancer and bone marrow deficiencies cannot be spread like STDs, foolish little brother."

There's something Kakashi hasn't told them, I'm surprised he forgot, but, no, he probably didn't. The mass suicide. I stare at Kakashi accusingly, because I know he's hoping someone else will tell Naruto. Sasuke doesn't know either; he doesn't know all the elements of this situation, otherwise he'd accept it. I'm only beginning to understand, there is definitely something wrong in this neighborhood.

The feeling is a dull throbbing, a coldness that makes me tense as though I'm being watched. The strangeness makes me want to run, far far away from this place. We've been through hell and back, we've been through too much to get killed investigating something that promises such dubious profit. Promises, knowledge that could erase our wills to live, or further strengthen it... I grit my teeth and lower my head into my hands.

"Is it worth it? Would it be worth it? I know, heh, what do we have to lose right? Nothing, we have absolutely nothing to lose." I raise my head to see everyone's gaze focused on me.

"But, even with that, does that make it worth it? _What would we gain goddammit?_ You ever heard the term ignorance is bliss? Maybe that pertains to this situation. Do we really want to know? I'm not being a coward, I know how it sounds, I..." I snap my teeth together and hang my head, unable to see their pity or disgust. A swell of unrepressed emotion threatens to tear itself through my lips, my back thumps against the wall and I slide down to sit on the floor. I distantly realize I've allowed my emotions too free a reign, and the result is my current panic. The realization is fuzzy though, and I don't care enough to stop it.

Warm hands caress my head; they slowly trail to my shoulders and give them a small squeeze before I'm wrapped into strong encasing arms.

"Heh, Eeyore, I wondered when I'd be forced to see you cry." Naruto's voice is so damn soft in tone, like he's seen every single sin I'd ever committed and doesn't give a rats ass. His arms emit heat like a fire and he rubs my back while I shake.

"You know, I think you're the bravest of us all, completely admitting how _hopelessly fucked_ this entire situation is to yourself. Blatantly looking at that, and not lying down on the floor to simply die, Eeyore, you're my role model ya know." I feel warm liquid drip from my nose onto his shirt. I sniff and bark a short laugh.

"You're something else Naruto." I mutter against him. He chuckles, the vibration is soothing and I emit a soundless sigh and lean into his warmth.

I bet Sasuke would give anything to be in my place right now, that thought makes me snicker. A slightly out of character thought coupled with an out of character action, must be the atmosphere in the room. I smile, Naruto sighs and his chin digs slightly into my shoulder as he nuzzles the side of my face.

"You sure are warm Eeyore, I think I'll use you as a human body pillow tonight." Sasuke grunts from across the room and I have a hard time suppressing a more audible snicker. Itachi, however, has no qualms on making his amusement vocal. He chuckles in a way that makes even me and Naruto stiffen like deer caught in headlights.

Geez, the guy could be an evil villain on another plane of existence with a laugh like that.

**TBC....**

* * *

**(1) **Yes, as in Invader Zim Gir.

_Mm, I was going to put more into this chapter, but I kind of haven't updated for a while... So I'll save it for next chapter. And I suppose I'll spoil the fact that I'm introducing Lee's love interest in the next chapter. This is not a __/Lee __or a __Kaka/Iruka__ fic, so those relationships will not be the main focus. Don't expect them to be. They'll have random tiny little moments but the main focus here is Sasu/Naru. and zombies. _


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Ah, I've come to an understanding with my plot. It's utterly eclectic. Fuuun. It's gonna be hellish to find a way to make it all make sense. Ah still enjoyable though.

Every time I get a review, I seriously break into a smile and almost dance around in my seat. It's embarrassing. **:P **Thank you for the lovely reviews.

**Warning:** Naruto references drugs. Batshit ensues. Naru-Rhetorical rules the day.

**Disclaimer: **I own Nothing.

-------Chapter 9 Lee's POV-------

_Waking up too early, maybe we can sleep. Making banana pancakes, pretend like it's the weekend now. – Banana Pancakes – Jack Johnson_

* * *

Naruto's mouth is overfull, tanned scarred cheeks smudged with dark brown bits of chocolate struggle to chew.

"You are going to choke and die if you don't slow down Naruto." Ino chuckles and passes a clear bottle of water over to a gagging Naruto. He uncaps the water and washes down some of the food in his mouth with the liquid.

"Grood Mmmgh Ruka." I blink at Naruto as he struggles to speak around the food still clogging his mouth.

"Naruto-" Iruka snaps a spatula against Naruto's back, his voice stern.

"Don't talk with your mouth full. The world's provided you with quite a few nasty ways to die, don't add choking to the list." Naruto coughs briefly than grins appealingly up at Iruka. Iruka clucks dismissively and walks around behind us. We're sitting in the dim light of a battery operated lantern hung over the table eating breakfast. Itachi leans against the kitchen wall, Styrofoam plate brought close to his face while he forks food into his mouth. Kakashi is sitting against a counter licking the sides of his lips smudged with peanut butter, empty syrupy plate tilting precariously in his hand.

Sasuke and Ino are engaged in a mock battle of table hockey, flicking a piece of styrofoam back and forth. Sasuke sits next to Naruto and Ino is sat across from them next to me. Naruto gulps down the last of his chocolate chip pancake, slams his hand down on the styrofoam puck halting Ino and Sasuke's game, grins up at Kakashi and rises from his chair.

"Decision making time! I vote option one!" Naruto spins around to face the room arms spread wide, cerulean eyes seriously firm yet sparkling mischievously. Once all attention is on him he continues.

I'm struck with a rising feeling of dread tinged ridicule at his straight commanding short posture.

"I'm thinking, this is a wonderful time to start figuring things out. Like, what exactly would happen if we find out what crazy _evil_ scientist experiments have been imposed on the poor unsuspecting _deceased _members of this household. For purposes of distinction I'm naming them Yellow and Bob. Yellow was the woman of the household. Bob was not. _Obviously._-"

What the fuck is he going on about? Why is he naming the burnt dead bodies in the back yard?

Ino giggles, raises her left hand and without waiting for acknowledgement crows at Naruto

"I vote option one as well! Yellow and Bob deserve retribution! Or... something." Her fervor fades into apathy in an unnervingly accurate display of what a bipolar Ino would act like.

Naruto twirls his syrupy plastic fork in his fingers and frowns dramatically. Syrup dribbles across his tan fingers. Annoyed, he drops the fork onto his plate.

Itachi, obviously amused, says nothing to stop the current theatrics. He just leans back to watch the show. Kakashi is snorting behind his mask, Iruka looks either dismayed or confused, probably both, and Sasuke has his eyebrows raised and is fighting a laugh.

"No! They don't, young grasshopper, they are dead- there's nothing for it. We didn't know them. We must prevent emotional attachment; which is why I named them such cliché and unoriginal names." Naruto regards Ino complacently, placing both hands palm down on the table and leaning forward on them. He sighs heavily and narrows his shining blue eyes.

"Now! We must assume that the mad scientist responsible for such heinous and some-other-word-to-describe-something-completely-unforgivable crimes against humanity is still alive and has orchestrated the ending of our world due to the insane zombies infesting it. Or maybe we must not! Maybe this has nothing to do with the extremely fucked up zombie filled adventures we now daily face." Naruto paused to take a breath and shook his head slightly, as if admitting an awful truth to himself.

"I really, _really_ want to assume some crazy acid trip-rainbow-mushroom-smoking-insane batshit stuff about this whole _wires-in-the-brain_ situation, but I can't...yet." He propelled himself away from the table and jerked his head at Kakashi.

"Kakashi will probably place me in a makeshift straight jacket just to spite me, and it won't be orange. So, I've got nothing to do but assume I will gain future knowledge to satiate my repressed assume-ations that many would unreasonably mistake as the result of inhaling drugs. And that is my reasoning behind choosing option one. I have duly justified my decision, have I not Kakashi?" Kakashi turns his back to us, he faces the sink. His hands grip the counter top, back shakes slightly. He waves his hand floppily and gives a strangled cough.

Oh yes, he _would_ find this humorous.

Naruto takes that as an affirmation and grins cockily at us crossing his arms against his chest.

O-k. Chocolate, and Naruto. Not a good combo, _ever_. So _maybe_ he's a little more eloquent than usual... who am I kidding? He's fucking lost whatever amount of sanity he had left.

"Were we meant to actually _understand_ any of that moron?" Said moron frowns at Sasuke, then turns his head to the side and pouts.

"Shaddup ye uncouth pervert." Sasuke's torso lurches forward with the force of his laugh.

"_Uncouth?_ Do you listen to yourself talk?"

"Ok banter aside, What-the-hell?" Iruka mutters, staring at Naruto like he's sprouted tentacles, or another head.

Itachi pulls a folding chair up to the table and sits down, his cheeks are tinted pink and his black ebon eyes are sparkling at Naruto.

"Ever amusing, little Naruto, I do believe you are the comic relief in our tragic lives." Naruto huffs and shakes his head

"Comic-fucking-relief? Are ya kidding? The world's screwy economy has fallen due to _zombie_ interference and the only thing _you_ find humorous about day to day life is _me_? Dude, you need to grow a sense of humor. " Itachi raises an eyebrow at Naruto's sardonic berate and Sasuke chuckles at his side.

"O-ok any else figured out their vote?" Kakashi cuts in, folding his arms comfortably and leaning back against the sink.

"My previous vote still stands. I agree with Naruto and Ino." Itachi replies.

I raise a hand slightly and nod at Naruto, indicating my vote is the same as his. Naruto grins and hops to my side then slings an arm around my shoulders.

Sasuke sighs and rubs his temple.

"I- I vote the first option as well." He mutters past his hand. Iruka blinks and frowns.

"Damn, Sasuke, I was hoping you'd hold out for me." Sasuke just raises his shoulders in a sloppy apologetic 'whatever' shrug.

Iruka places his palms to his eyes and moans out

"All right, fine, I acquiesce, making this a unanimous vote. Let's stay put and wait this out."

Naruto dances victoriously around the room.

"Ok, so we're not leaving. Good. I need a shower. And I still have some dirty clothes to wash." Ino pushes herself away from the table. Iruka grumbles under his breath and starts gathering dirty plates from the table to toss them into the sink.

Itachi ruffles Naruto's bed head hair as he dances past him; which spurs Sasuke to pull a squawking Naruto down into his lap to attempt to smooth his previously ruffled hair down, all the while glaring at his retreating chuckling older brother. Naruto elbows Sasuke in the gut and jumps out of reach. He sticks his tongue out at Sasuke and trots upstairs.

Sasuke massages his stomach and winces.

Young love. Yeah. It's stupid and pain inducing, almost never worth the effort.

I shake my head and stay sitting where I'm at. Something warm claws up my pants leg and slips into my lap. I look down at Mogget who yawns and stretches, flopping down he daintily starts to clean himself. Little beads of milk stick to his whiskers cutely. I grin and scratch his head between his fluffy ears.

"I've wanted to ask him since I met him, but I don't know if it'd bring up painful memories or something..." I look up in surprise at Sasuke, he frowns at his hands and hesitates. Kakashi and Iruka stand over the sink rinsing dishes and storing them away.

"You want to know...something about Naruto." I murmur, caressing a purring Mogget. Sasuke nods and looks up meeting my eyes.

"What's with those scars on the sides of his face? Is it something I should, _could_ ask him directly about?"

_Ah_, of course.

We, Kakashi Ino and I, are used to Naruto's appearance. I'd forgotten that the scars might look a little out of place to anyone else.

"Well, they are, heirlooms, so to speak. Something his mother left for him when she and her husband died." Sasuke blinked, totally bemused.

He shook his head finally, muttering

"Someone needs to get you and Naruto a dictionary, _Uncouth, Heirlooms_. You either don't know what you're talking about half the time you speak, or you do know and I should be a little freaked out."

I chuckle; Mogget snags my finger between his sharp little teeth.

"No Sasuke, I know what I'm saying. It's not as bad as it sounds though, honestly. It's a tradition for the Namikaze family. Direct descendants bear the kyuubi mark when they come of age. The Kyuubi is a mythical nine tailed fox tied to the Namikaze history. A fairy tale of sorts, but such things are common with old Native American families." Sasuke's eyes widened

"Wait, the moron has Indian blood?" I chuckle at his disbelieving tone.

"He favors his father's genes." I shrug dismissively. With bright blue eyes and stunning blonde hair, Naruto's not exactly a Native American poster boy. I'm not surprised Sasuke doesn't quite believe it.

Itachi walks back into the room deftly shuffling a pack of cards in his hands and sits down on a chair.

"War, Bullshit, Bust, Crazy eights or Go fish." Itachi murmurs, dividing the deck in half then shuffling it against the table. I raise an eyebrow. Mogget's black fuzzy head pops over the table, yellow slit eyes watching Itachi's swiftly moving fingers predatorily. Kakashi drags a hand towel over his fingers drying his hands and takes a vacant seat.

"Hm, bullshit sounds like fun. Lee, you can join next game. I want you to take first watch for now." I nod and deposit Mogget in Iruka's hands. Iruka splutters and sits in my vacated seat.

"B-bullshit?" Kakashi grins jauntily at the bemused Iruka and winks.

"Fun card game Iruka dear. You'll love it." Iruka blushes and looks down at the squirming kitten in his hands.

I walk out of the dimly lit room into the hallway. Ino's stepping down the stairs dragging a bag of clothes behind her, Naruto following timidly.

I pause mid step and catch Naruto's attention.

"Sasuke wanted to know about your whiskers Naruto." Naruto's blue eyes flash with mixed emotions as he smiles. His reply is somewhat clipped.

"Ah. Really. I wondered when someone would ask. Eheh, Me and Ino are doing laundry. Ya wanna come?" I shake my head.

"Kakashi has me on guard duty. Have fun." He sighs and mutters something unintelligible while descending into the basement after Ino.

* * *

_Unknown POV_

An infernal buzzing noise permeates my concentration. I blink and frown at the screen before me, the noise continues. I turn to the small device imbedded into the wall that's emitting said infernal distraction.

Those incompetents better have a monumentally important reason for rousing me from my work. I feel a tic develop in my left eye as I strip my hands from the protective gloves and fling them into a biochemical waste bin I pass on my way to the elevator ascending to the outside world.

Tsunade, she's making an absurd amount of progress. Completely absurd because it's done unhesitatingly, quickly, she's not following normal protocol in an experimental environment, she does something and it works. She doesn't need to go back and forth as I have, an endless cycle, for every step forward, two are taken back. It's inanely nauseating.

The doors slide open, I briskly walk through the dark room to the double doors. The sun hasn't risen yet. The night is cold, snow whorls around me as I trot to the command center.

"What? Make it quick." I snap as soon as I'm through the tent flaps. The Lieutenant wastes no time.

"Two more Carriers have been identified entering grid 5-D Sir. And we have photo IDs of all seven Carriers recognized yesterday."

"It's about time, though this information is hardly important enough to rouse me." I mutter darkly. The problem with the world being devoured by infected is the lack of personnel at our disposal. Things slow down due to the number of casualties from infection and blaringly stupid decisions.

"Ah, sir, the full files are presently being faxed to the upper labs. I think, when you see them you'll understand and appreciate our rudeness." I frown but nod and swiftly leave the tent flicking a long black strand of hair away from my face.

Pushing the doors open, unceremoniously entering into the bright pristine white labs overseen by Tsunade, I unhesitatingly pass Tsunade's slightly competent assistant Shizune and make my way to the fax machine. Shizune gapes at me for a moment, then turns and bustles off, no doubt to inform Tsunade of my unusual presence in these upper labs.

I turn my attention back to the fax machine, a humorless grin on my face. The last page is fed through the slot to rest finished in the tray when a well endowed female burst into the room. I slide the pages into my palm; self satisfaction I don't bother to hide causes Tsunade's brown eyes to narrow on my face dangerously.

"What's going on Orochimaru?" She barks.

"I haven't completely ignored the outside world in favor of my research and the fact that you have your Akatsuki lackeys watching my every move hasn't escaped my notice." She stands a few feet in front of me, arms crossed carelessly, light blonde hair tied back away from her face. I raise an eyebrow and allow a grin to cross my face. Instead of bothering to answer I question

"Tsunade, how _is_ your research going by the way? Still wasting time with the original mediocre unfinished cells?" Tsunade closes her eyes, hiding the hurt that flickers along with the memories my words no doubt drudge up. I subtly punish her insolence using this tactic because I know how foolishly close she holds those memories.

"Those _original mediocre unfinished cells_, are the building blocks for every single virus you managed to concoct. Twisting the original work until it was unrecognizable." Tsunade bared her teeth and continued.

"Kushina's work was light years ahead of what you could ever _hope_ to accomplish." Brown eyes open, the look in them directed at me is utter contempt. This bleeds into her voice.

"You will _never_ recreate the kyuubi cells." She spoke with finality. I scoff

"I don't need to recreate them. I'm much more interested in following where the RA-virus leads. I'm making progress with that. I don't need some disappointing relic from our past to hinder my thoughts."

I look down at the pages and start to shuffle through. A chortle escapes my lips at the appearance of pale skin and dark piercing eyes.

"Oh my, the Uchiha brats. Now this_ is_ interesting. They're _alive_?" Tsunade blinks.

"Uchiha, isn't that Konohagakure's rival company? Or was." She asks, voice apathetic. I snort and shuffle the pages, stopping dead at one face. Bright blonde hair, scarred face, unflinchingly blue eyes.

_Uzumaki Naruto._

My eyes widen, I stop breathing for a moment, a feeling bubbles inside my chest, triumphant maddening joy. My hands shake against the page.

"_Finally."_ I hiss, Tsunade's brows furrow, eyes darkening with suspicion. She shifts her arms to her sides and opens her mouth, beginning a query I really don't feel like indulging with an answer.

"Any complaints you have are duly noted Tsunade. I'll coddle to your demands later." I swiftly cut her off and brush past her quickly exiting the building. Tsunade grinds her teeth in annoyance and yells after me. I ignore.

_This_, this is absolutely thrilling, Kushina's brat, he houses complete Kyuubi cells, or no, by now it would have mutated and been completely absorbed and integrated into his system. The perfect kyuubi organism, already matured. I want to laugh, delighted.

Tsunade, if she knew, she'd probably do something utterly foolish. No, she can't find out, yet. I can already see the hindrance she'd be.

I could almost dance in the cold air of the yard; Instead I trot to the tent and fling it open.

"Lieutenant!" he swirls in his chair.

"Sir?"

"This boy, tell Kisame to get _this boy _and bring him _here_. He is high priority and is to be completely unharmed, _stress_ that point please." I snarl thrusting the page into the Lieutenant's startled face. Kisame isn't known for his gentleness with targets. The lieutenant stutters and clutches at the page.

"What are you waiting for you inept idiot? Contact Kisame _Now_!" He nods and immediately picks up a receiver. I realize, I'm not entirely prepared in my labs to accommodate kyuubi research. Not to mention how I'm going to keep this boy from Tsunade's prying eyes.

"What boy?" Tsunade's voice, uncharacteristically dull wafts from behind. I spin around and glare suspiciously at her.

"Don't you have work to do?" my sneer is met with deadened brown eyes. _She knows..._

"Orochimaru. _What. Boy._"

* * *

_Ino's POV_

Naruto swayed causing ripples across the floor. The plastic bin I was using to hold the dry clean clothes slowly sunk lower in the water as I deposit clean clothes smelling like... I check the detergent bottle,- _Pine swept hills..._ is the official scent.

_Whaa-tever. _Way to pick a name that makes any sort of sense.

Naruto's voice rises as he sings accompanied by a burst of movement making a wave of water splash against my rain boots.

"_All these beats-Workin' down the street!"_ He hopped to the left of his original position, an exuberant smile on his face.

"_Jumping, jacking-Gimme some time, 'cause if ya don't, I won't-You'll never get back, yee-aah- ya do, i swear-I'll give it ta you!"_

He twisted around and bobbed his head.

"_Standing on the board, Board is on the wheels- Wheels are on the ground, zooming round and round_!"

What is he singing? I feel mirth spread through me at his sporadic dance and can't hold back a giggle. He barks a laughs in reply, a cute burst of sound escaping his lips as he doubles over caught up in his song.

"Naruto, c'mere and help, we're done down here. Let's get this stuff hauled upstairs and packed away." I smile gently at him.

"Hokay!" He stands straight and glides through the water. We hoist the bin full of clothes up and make our way up the stairs trying not to drop the bin or fall over backwards.

"Hey, Ino, uhm." Naruto stumbles against a step and I hiss trying to keep him and the bin from tumbling over backwards.

"Talk up in the room Naruto, not here." I yelp at him, and he nods sheepishly.

We manage to bungle our way up both flights of stairs without any lasting bodily harm, and set the increasingly heavy bin full of clothes down gratefully.

Naruto winces and massages his wrists, plopping down on a bed. I drag a large duffel bag to my side and start filling it with the clean clothes.

"Naruto, you wanted to ask me something?" he looks up from his wrists and meets my eyes. A small blush colors his cheeks and he glances off to the side.

"uh, mm. I was just, wondering, what you think of Sasuke."

_Sasuke?_ He wants to talk about _Sasuke_?

"He's..." I falter, at a loss for words. Why does Naruto care what I think about Sasuke? Naruto shifts on the bed looking uncomfortable. I blink, trying to deduce what significance Sasuke had with..._anything._

"Ino! Naruto!" Lee's frantic voice halts all thought. Naruto shoots up from the bed and trots through the door while I finish stuffing clothes into the duffel.

"How many....._Pink?_!......infected!......**INO**!" I strain to hear snatches of the conversation being taken place down stairs while I struggle to gather together everything we'd need in case we had to pack our stuff and get the hell out of here. When Kakashi hollers my name I drop everything and run down the stairs almost breaking my neck at the bottom. Lee appears right in front of me and absently catches me before I fall face first into the floor.

"They're just teens." He mutters to me. I blink at him confused.

"Wait, what?" he gives me an annoyed passing look and enters the living room, the front door is open wide.

That's, not...right?

Why the hell is the door open? _What in the hell_ is going on? Naruto runs up the front steps grinning madly.

"Ino! They aren't mad evil scientists or anything-They were just lost and Gaara said that Sakura knows how to make chocolate cake from scratch and Sakura has pink highlights, pfft... _Pink highlights_, Ino, that's... like, If I were to get blue highlights in my hair." He breaks off into cackling laughter and I'm left standing utterly confused panicking at the open door.

"What the hell is going on?!" I almost yell.

"Chill Ino." Kakashi calmly steps through the front door brushing flakes of snow from his hair and smiles all innocently at me.

"We've just made some new friends, that's all."

**TBC...**

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* * *

**_The song Naruto sings is Huddle Formation by The Go! Team. Fuun song. It suits Naruto's character somewhat._


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Sorry for the horrendous delay. Don't really know what to say about that, other than I have a valid excuse that I don't really care to elaborate on. :P Thank you for the reviews :] As usual they are one of the highlights of my week/month.

As a writer, I read fanfics that completely blow my mind, and sometimes they cause no small amount of despair on my count when I absent mindedly compare their writing with my own stories, on the other hand, they really inspire me. The thought that fanfics can be awesome, not geeky little fangirlish mediocre writing, really helps to continue my own fanfics. Thank you to all the authors in my Favorite list (probably will never read this...) for being humorous and original and lovely.

**Warning:**

**Disclaimer: **I own Nothing.

----Chapter 10 Naruto POV----

_I keep holding on to you, but I can't bring you back to life - Anthem of the Angels, Breaking Benjamin_

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* * *

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Okay. The bastard has issues. And Itachi is creepy. I dunno a thing about having siblings, but Itachi is definitely not my ideal older brother... anyways.

The bastard, _has issues_. None of _my_ business.

Nope.

Itachi is reading a French/English encyclopedia... weirdo. He's sitting at the table across from me. Sasuke's out in the yard with Gaara and Kakashi... not, that I _care_ where Sasuke is. I blink and sigh. Why am I thinking about him?

... Itachi likes to smirk, I've noticed. Or smile all evil like. And his quiet laughter makes me wanna bolt for the closest closet and shut myself off. Small spaces, they're nice and eventually warm and comfy.

Mogget shifts sleepily in my lap.

I liked hiding when I was younger. Especially when Jiraiya was drunk and tried to make me sing old Elvis songs with him, or when Jiraiya was sober and wanted me to read over his manuscripts, or when he wanted to bother me about school.

I'm definitely not claustrophobic. No, small spaces are _good_. I fall asleep really easy in a small secure space that no one can find me in.

Sasuke shoved the back door open, it banged into the wall and a burst of wintery air caused me to shiver.

I frown at him. He sometimes likes to pretend to be a melodramatic twerp.

He's mad, I can tell. Gaara follows him inside, looking slightly wary. Gaara has the darkest shade of red hair I've ever seen on a person. And he says it's natural. I believe him, because Gaara's eyes are almost painfully serious and his voice is straightforward. Ino described his eyes as 'demonically impassive' and his voice as 'freakishly devoid of emotion'.

Ino is a little unimaginative.

Speaking of Ino, she and Sakura don't really get along. Sakura's bi, which Ino said was because Sakura needed more options opened romantically because of her big forehead and grating voice. Again, unimaginative Ino, Sakura has soft looking hair and pretty sparkling green eyes. Her forehead is kinda wide, but I wouldn't have noticed if Ino hadn't pointed it out to me. Sakura described her and Gaara's relationship in the terms of siblings, wicked slightly masochistic siblings.

Apparently Gaara had been abroad before mass infection. When things got worse he returned to the states to look for his biological siblings. Sakura was a bartender at the restaurant he frequently visited, when the zombie population outgrew the non infected residents they fell in together and have been travelling ever since.

A little vague... they said the details were boring and gave us the abbreviated story.

A lot like us, I guess. Gaara resembles someone I used to know. Lee avoids Gaara, he just... seems wary of him. I guess I know why. Gaara hasn't spoken the names of his siblings; I think Lee's a little afraid to find out. Bad memories. And we don't have the time to deal with our collective pain, nope, no closure for us. We'll just have to keep moving forward and find a way to deal with the memories gradually.

We have each other. These people around me are the only things that matter now.

I wonder if Sasuke thinks Sakura's hair and eyes are pretty. He and Gaara are examining the canned food Iruka laid out for lunch. Sasuke's hair is cow licked up in the back. How does it get like that? All spiky and ignorant of gravity... does he style it? Two long bangs frame his face, his chin is well shaped, his nose looks like it's been broken, there's a small silvery scar on the bridge of his nose...dark piercing eyes...

Mogget stretches in my lap and yawns wide. I grin down at him and watch as he settles back in the crease of my legs.

"Picturesque, Naruto..." Itachi mutters, not even looking up from his stupid book.

"Wouldn't you agree, little brother?" I jerk my head up to see Sasuke's reaction. Ah, reflex, it's a defensive reflex, since I don't actually care if he thinks I'm cute...no wait, Mogget! I don't care if he thinks that _Mogget_ is cute. Wait, no. yes. Ah...

"Well, that was blindingly subtle Itachi." Sasuke's low voice spoke from very near my ear. I flinch as his forearm reaches over my shoulder and scratches Mogget's head slowly.

Itachi smirks.

"Catch on to that did you?" he asks, still not looking up. He licks his thumb and slowly turns a page.

Sasuke's chin rests on the top of my head, his firm lean arms rest haphazardly against my shoulders.

"I'm not a support post Sas. Get your bony chin off me. You're impaling my head." I mutter. Sasuke snorts. Itachi's smirk twitches on his face and Gaara drops a can of cream corn.

What is _with_ that reaction?

"Naruto." When did Sakura enter the room?

"Hey Sakura, where's Ino?" I ask, turning my head, slightly hindered by Sasuke's chin. Sakura's leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

"Upstairs, somewhere. Don't care. Naruto, you're just a _model_ of innocence aren't you?" I blink at her. Where's she going with this? Justly suspicious I continue to stare. Sasuke shifts behind me, the pressure on my head is gone. I hear Sasuke pull a chair up next to mine. He sits and leans his elbows against the table.

"Are you still a virgin? Cause, you know, with the whole end of the world thing going on you should really get a taste of all of life's wicked little pleasures before you get eaten or something." Sakura is very deviously examining me, Green eyes glinting with humor. I'm finding myself slightly fearful for my current state of affairs. Heat races through my cheeks, I scowl down at Mogget. The room is silent.

"Well?" Sasuke asks, his voice has an edge of impatience.

"What the hell is with you pervs. It's my business, not yours." I growl, not looking up. Sakura giggles and pats my head as she passes me.

Ah, mental note on Sakura, she's cute, gives off the feeling that she's really shrewd and she has hot pink highlights in her strawberry blonde hair, and when it comes to stubbornness, she can outlast Ino. And that's... just, mind bending.

"Naruto was kinda a recluse."

_Lee?_ What the fuck?

I turn in my chair and gape offended at him. He ignores my outrage in favor of spooning Spongebob spaghetti-O's into his mouth straight from the can.

"Really? _Naruto?_ A recluse?" What the hell's with that tone? I scowl at Itachi who finally looked up from his stupid book to direct that irritating question at a ruefully smiling Lee.

"Mhm. He rarely left the apartment building unless we dragged him with us. Didn't go to parties, didn't go to the movies, He had almost no social life at all." My glare is directed at both Itachi and Lee, a growing bubble of ill intent focuses on them and anyone who dares to speak furthering this stupid conversation. Sasuke flicks my ear and I yelp at the sudden sharp pain.

"Bastard, cut it out." I grunt irritably at him. An annoying smirk is plastered across his face and he leans forward.

"You were a recluse moron? Too scared of people to come out of your shell? You didn't strike me as the shy type." I frown at him.

My comfort zone has been ripped to shreds by recent events, least of which the zombie plague, So no, I can safely say I'm not scared of people. Besides, before all of this, the unconscious seclusion had been instincts. What I remember and learned from my parents was how they were cautious, careful with people. I suppose, in a way the only thing I have of them is my scars and my memories.

I liked people. Like Fred. When he was still a janitor he told me stories about when he was young. How his oldest sister joined the circus and rode around on elephants wearing feathers and glitter and sequins. Fred liked to tell me stuff. He was kinda wrinkly and old, but he was nice.

I still like people, even some of the Zombie variety. I liked Fred even when he was a zombie. I returned the favor from when he kept my younger self entertained and told him stories... though unlike him I had to make up half the stuff I told him. Just to keep things interesting. Nothing really fun or awesome has happened in my life. He didn't really appreciate the effort, just drooled and slobbered on the truck.

"I am not afraid of people Sasuke." He seems a little surprised at my serious tone. He blinks, then his eyes narrow in...

What is this look? Some kind of soft... empathy?

"I am a little afraid of zombies though." I grin to dispel whatever kind of moment that could have turned into. Sasuke's previous gentle expression was replaced by an amused lift of his eyebrow.

"Ah, I would have never guessed, Naruto." He murmurs with a small shake of his head. Sasuke reclines back in his chair and tilts his head just so, the dark bangs framing his face fall softly against his eyelashes.

I wonder, if his hair is as soft as it looks. I'm seriously tempted to finger a strand, just to see.

"Sasuke, don't jump to conclu-" Kakashi walks through the open back door and blinks at me, then closes his mouth on the sentence he'd been saying.

Sasuke, had walked into the house pretty pissed, and now Kakashi has walked in somewhat annoyed and weary. Now, why do these combinations of emotions from these two people reek of conspiracy? I tilt an eyebrow at Kakashi suspiciously; he ignores me in favor of staring at Lee.

"Hey kid, that better not be the last of the spaghetti-Os. You know I love those things." Lee hoists the can up to his nose, examining it diligently while chewing complacently.

"Mm, I think, _this is_ the last can. There's some ravioli in the bottom shelf over there." Lee unapologetically scrapes the last bits of the noodles into his open mouth then swallows with an overdone smack of his lips. He stands and tosses the empty can into a garbage bag. Kakashi stares almost soullessly at the can and I can't repress the giggle shaking through me.

"You... that was probably the most evil thing you've done all morning." Kakashi says at length. Lee slides his hands into his jeans pockets and shrugs his shoulders before winking at me and walking out the back door whilst whistling White Rabbit.(1)

"Ah wait up Lee! I wanna come!" I gently place Mogget into Sasuke's lap and start to stand when a hand clamps hard down on my arm.

"Ouch, fuck. Sasuke! Let go." I turn and growl at him. His eyes and his face are blank. A cold feeling spreads from where his hand is cutting off the circulation to my wrist thro-ought my body, leaving me in chills. I remember this kind of careful face.

It was the exact same expression shown at the funerals of both my parents. It was the expression shown by Jiraiya when he gave another random excuse as to why we had to move from place to place so frequently. It was the face Kakashi made when asked where Gai was in Lee's presence after Gai had died. It was Ino's face after our apartment burnt to the ground and Kakashi told us we had to leave.

Blood drains from my face at _that _look. Sasuke's eyes immediately narrow in worry.

"Moron... just stay inside for now." Sasuke's voice, blank. Eyes, blank, face, blank. No no no _no_.

"Who,- Who died?" I ask through painfully clenched teeth, trying to alleviate my growing paranoia by writing off the serious mood as Sasuke being overdramatic.

"No... it's not that Naruto." Kakashi's voice, blank. Fucking blank. Void and empty.

"Then... what the hell is going on." I want to hide, I want to run. I want to smash something. Sasuke's grip around my wrist has gotten painful, restricting. I jerk my hand and his grip tightens even more.

"Let the fuck go Sasuke!" I yell and almost yank him from his chair while trying to shake his hand off.

"Naruto calm down." Lee says from the door. His eyes too, his face, his fucking voice. All _empty._

"NO. Tell me, show me- What the hell is wrong?" Lee raises both hands and takes a step forward.

No, no.

Sasuke and Itachi are watching carefully, both seem poised to jump if I try to run or something. Fucking idiots, if I wanted to run, if I wanted to hide, there's not a thing I'd let stop me. Least of which two tall pale bastards.

"They're dead. All of them. Every single house. Every single child." Stillness. Quiet and surprise and bitter looks greet Sakura's voice. I blink at her. I want to tell her, no, not everyone's dead, but something's blocked my voice and I can only breathe.

So instead I wait for Kakashi to comfort her, because she's obviously having a break down. Yes, a lot of people are dead, sure. But, not everyone's dead. We're still alive. Sakura blinks back at me, her eyes have such a soft condescending look, her mouth is a thin line and she sighs through her nose.

"Naruto, this place, something is wrong here. There are no infected in this region. Have you stopped to wonder why? There are no signs of a struggle, no survivors.

The people here didn't die like the rest, they didn't die from infection, none of them got back up. Gaara and I checked a lot of the houses. They all died similar deaths, probably even the people burnt in this backyard." Sakura took a deep breath, her eyes were narrowed on mine.

The coldness in me caused by everyone's blank fest deepens till I feel a little numb. I nod at Sakura, urging her on, because I want to understand why I'm feeling so disgustingly... _blank_.

"Do you understand Naruto?" She lowers her head slightly, her eyes never leave mine.

"They all killed themselves, Naruto. The adults who had children, they overdosed them, poisoned their food, shot them in their beds, strangled their infants, then they followed suit and killed themselves."

Sakura hesitates, she closes her eyes. Am I still breathing?

"And, they didn't die recently, they've been dead since before last week or even last month. The oddest thing I've noticed about the bodies is that they are all at the same levels of decay... The rate of decomposing is sluggish, oddly so, but that can be attributed to the cold temperature." She shook her head, her brows furrowed in confusion. I feel kind of sick, maybe I should lie down.

"They all did this roughly at the same time. It could be copycatted I suppose, or a group decision, but... I don't know... The level of decay, suggests these people have been dead for months, at the very least, four or five months."

"How do you know this Sakura?" Kakashi asked. Itachi's hand is clenched around his book. His eyes fixed solidly on Sakura.

"I was a licensed nurse. I worked in nursing homes and hospitals for a couple of years. I've been around death... and one of my old boyfriends was a crime scene investigator. You know, kind of like that show CSI?" Kakashi nods.

"Is there anything else you can tell us Sakura? Anything else you've noticed" Itachi asks.

"How does someone go from a well paying job like nursing to something that pays minimum wage like a bartender?" Sasuke cut in incredulously. Sakura frowned at Sasuke.

"Being a nurse is very stressful. I needed a break for a while. I took leave from the hospital and got another job. It was fun. I wasn't half as stressed when I got home from work and I reconnected with friends. So I quit my job at the hospital." Sakura's frown turned into a smirk.

"Not something that I'd expect a spoiled Uchiha would have to worry about. I bet you've never had to work a day in your life pretty boy."

"You don't know anything about me." Sasuke snorted.

Sakura tilted her head slightly, almost knowingly.

"Your personality has undertones of possessiveness; the most obvious characteristics you display are your quiet, spoiled and cynical traits. You're either infatuated or building to infatuation with Naruto. You respect your older brother to a certain degree. You don't want to die, but you don't see the point in living in the world as it is now."

"Why did these people kill themselves?" I cut in. Sasuke and Sakura freeze. Itachi sighs and closes his eyes. Kakashi is still annoyingly unreadable.

"Dunno." Lee mutters.

"When did you guys figure this out?" I growl back.

"Does it matter?"

_Does it matter?_ Why the fuck wouldn't it? Why wouldn't they tell me this? I sit fuming silently. Sasuke stands and Mogget mews.

"Well, that went a little better than I thought it would." Kakashi muttered. I snort. Old man thinks this is over. Noo, this day, I shall make them RUE it.

* * *

_Sasuke POV_

Current thought process is largely focused on my Naruto... yes, ok. This is retarded. Smack dab in the middle of the end of the world, I find the only thing I really want to do is screw the blonde kid. And have him like it. Yes. That would most definitely make my life brighter.

My priorities are off the fucking deep end. You can't make this shit up. Noticing how attractive your companion is while fighting for your life, well, it distracts from the possibility of impending death. So I guess it's not all that odd, strong emotions like terror induce strong emotions like lust. Or love. Which I'm not thinking about right now.

Naruto took the whole mass suicide thing pretty well.

He's hiding somewhere in the house right now. Kakashi said he did that for a while after his Godfather disappeared last month. Some weird hippy name, Jyanna, no there was an 'R' somewhere... Jyanra? Whatever.

Speaking of mass suicide... the nurse bargirl said something about the possibility that these people killed themselves a little _before_ mass infection was confirmed and people really started panicking...

Hm, maybe it was some kind of demonic cult thing... four months prior today, this whole suicide thing would have disturbed me... but now.

I've seen children no older than 7 taking bites out of their parents in the street. And vice versa.

Desensitized, not the right word... a more appropriate word would probably be numb. Yep.

Some deep part of my mind not focused on the present is completely floored by this; digusted, infuriated... but despite my previously mentioned priorities being insane, they aren't completely bereft of common sense. We can't afford to be stunned to the point of not being able to function about this. That's like asking the infected to storm the house and devour us with condiments.

Hence, my search for Naruto. Well, actually, my libido's kicking up a storm in my brain at the thought of catching Naruto curled up all alone somewhere in a dark little corner just waiting to be comforted, I'm practically salivating here.

I dumped Mogget with my evil older brother, who for some reason is reading a dictionary...? He has previous experience speaking French so maybe he's just reviewing... in a weird obsessive evil scheme kind of way.

Ino and Sakura, _hah hah_. The tension between those two is so dense when they're in the same room the air gets murky. Didn't Sakura say she was bi?

That aside, Where is my little blonde?

I slink up the dark staircase and walk to the half open door to our room. A grin stretches across my face as I stealthily slip through the door and gently shut it behind me.

Naruto sat cross legged in the soft glow from the television. A white game controller in his hands, his eyes focused on the screen, teeth glittering behind slightly raised pink lips... I think I'll just enjoy the view for now.

He growls when the screen flashes and his fingers fly across buttons and his thumbs twitch across the mini joysticks imbedded into the Xbox controller.

"...argh...whatever god created video game medkits, you fucking fail." Naruto hissed at the screen. I tilt my head to the side, enjoying his animated features. Naruto snorts and pauses the game. He lays the controller down on the ground and stretches with a yawn, arms reaching for the ceiling as his back pops. He turns around and comically stiffens when he sees me.

"Sas, you scared the hell outta me..." Naruto deadpans, lids narrowed over his usually expressive sapphire eyes. He sits back on his legs and drops his gaze from mine.

The urge to molest dwindles under the desire to have those blue eyes focused on me with a familiar strength and unflinching carefree light burning in their depths.

My fingers twitch with the repressed need to card through his turbulent hair, encircle his body slowly, to firmly press against the muscle in his back and smooth away the tense lines til he's boneless in my arms, sleeping so peacefully like the kitten he adores downstairs.

"What are you playing?" I ask instead. Naruto blinks at the floor, his gaze shifts to the television.

"Fear. It's a first person shooter."

"Can I play?"

"Mmhm, we'll take turns. It's not multiplayer. Unless we play on Live." Naruto stumbles to his feet and drags a long body pillow off the bed to the floor. He plops back down on one side of the pillow, crosses his legs and pats the unoccupied space.

How strange, the euphoria that settles over me at the thought of being by his side while we do something like play a video game together. I settle on the pillow and follow suit with Naruto by crossing my legs, our knees overlap and Naruto stubbornly places his jutting knee over mine. I hold back a snicker and Naruto hands me the controller, explains the controls and leaves me too it.

The game is, interesting. Naruto monologues thru-ought it, commenting on the usual video game nonsense. I die and it's his turn. He gets to pilot a big walking tank. I feign jealousy, he lets me play. I kick ass. Sometime later that evening, I look over and Naruto has this huge goofy grin on his face, his eyes shine and his face is flushed. He laughs like a maniac when he dies and tosses me the controller, then he falls off the pillow and giggles periodically distracting me until I die. When I do die, he cackles and wrangles the controller from me. Tch. Brat.

He falls asleep with his head in my lap while I play through my turn. I don't notice til I die again and look down at him expectantly. His breathe whispers through his teeth, pink lips parted only slightly, his scarred cheek is pressed against my ankle and his eyes twitch under dark eyelashes. I hesitantly thread my fingers into his hair and message his skull. Such soft sunny hair.

Naruto. I think I can, and will love you. Not like you make it hard or anything... _Naruto._

* * *

**(1)**Jefferson Airplane's white rabbit yo. Who doesn't love songs about drugs?

_And a little of Sakura's dialogue was influenced by Firefly's movie Serenity; I'd never steal direct lines and pass them as my own._

_I had a hard time writing this chapter. dunno why. Ah, I've placed hints about possible side pairings, and then ground them into the dirt. :P Keep guessing. At this point, I'm more focused on building the plot to fruition... and there is an astounding lack of smut in this story. How sad. I've never wrote smut, but I've certainly read it._

_To smiles – Sorry about your Confusion on the unknown POV, but well, that's kind of what I'm aiming for. It's called building suspense/interest in the 'evil' plot. Muahahhahaha..._


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Meh. Insufficient amount of feedback from the last chapter. I don't believe I've voiced my cravings for reviews yet... well consider this my first and only request; I'm not going to pepper this story with reminders. So Please don't hesitate to review. That aside...! Why is it taking you so long to friggin update? IS the vibe I'm getting over the internet... well. :P Real Life beckons, distracts, enamors and has an annoying habit of completely blanking my mind at random intervals.

btw, if any of you ever want an update on how far along I am on writing a chapter (pre-update), check my profile page. Also I have a poll up I'd like your opinion from, if you readers would be so kind. I know my updates have gotten slower the farther Summer progresses, please be patient with me and continue to let me know you're still reading and enjoying the fic, and I will try to get the chapters up sooner.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Warnings: **uhm...

_Italic-_ flashback/dream

-Chapter 11 Naruto's POV-

_Days go on forever, but I have not left your side – Anthem of the Angels, Breaking Benjamin_

* * *

_Gentle squeezing pressure prompted a beaming smile and a returned enthusiastic squeeze from the tiny tanned fingers encased in strong long fingered hands._

_Naruto was lifted into a warm clothed chest. His wild blonde spikes were slowly stroked down to his skull while his father's voice vibrated around him and they swayed to the beat of the music. The song was nostalgic, the tent fluttered around them as the rain beat against the ground. The grey metal chairs occasionally clanked together as the people around them shifted stances and shuffled around talking or humming along with the old music._

_The air was heavy with the rain's scent, perspiration ran down foreheads and collected around the corners of Naruto's eyes. Sapphire eyes blinked drowsily and his father's breathe wafted across his forehead swaying feathery golden blonde bangs aside as he plants a firm kiss on the damp skin there._

"_Little kit, your mother used to sing to you and me when you were still new and in the womb." Naruto perked his small oval face up, shining blue eyes wide as they blinked at his father's fuzzy visage._

"_She used to sing about a sunrise that erased all sadness from the world."_

"Will you two shut the hell up?"

"Don't make me come back there."

I stifle a snort, Lee and Iruka's fuses are considerably shorter this morning. Well, Sakura and Ino are being kinda annoying. Ino's pale blue eyes narrow and she turns her face unapologetically away. Sakura sucks her teeth and munches popcorn. Dark houses line the street and snow encrusted sidewalks glitter in the dawn light. There's been no proper maintenance, no salt spread over the street, the snow built up over night only barely melting in the pale sun's light as day progresses. In some places the roads are somewhat slick which makes driving anywhere slightly dangerous. We need to stop at an auto shop and pick up some tire chains. Mobility is important, which is why we're armed and cautiously driving under thirty mph to our multiple destinations.

Having packed up camp and left the orange house, we group huddled and made a list of priorities.

First and foremost we'll keep our eyes peeled for an auto shop, or a gas station, whichever we come across first for refueling and the like. Obviously we have a few containers filled to the brim with gasoline but we don't have enough for Gaara's stick shift. I pestered Gaara this morning to teach me to drive his blazer when we had the time, it's a manual, and I have no experience with those.

Second, we want to scavenge at a hospital. Now that we have a former nurse we'll be able to pick through things that might actually come in handy. We have our standard first aid kits stashed in the trucks dashboard, but I guess nothing beats the real stuff.

Lastly, we want to scout out the town. See how far this suicide/weirdness spread. Maybe find more clues to learn what went on here.

Sasuke was muttering about religious cults this morning, so I guess we'll check out random cathedrals we come across... just in case.

Sasuke absently hands me a plastic bag full of grapes while he digs around in the small cooler for the last bottle of lemonade. I hesitantly take the bag avoiding touching his fingers and place the loaded rifle in my hands between my knees. He snorts and rolls his eyes. I'm tempted to shove him out of the truck bed.

We're in our usual place sitting in the back of Lee's truck. Sakura is sitting with us though instead of Kakashi. Gaara's red blazer is plowing along behind us. The snow isn't deep enough to hinder progress yet, besides, I think Lee's truck would be able to take it. And Gaara's blazer is a four wheel drive... it's not likely that we'll be getting stuck anytime soon.

At least it's not snowing anymore. Sakura sighs and restlessly shifts her feet around.

"You know, I think we should huddle together for warmth."

Sasuke blinks at her slowly.

"Bad idea." Is all he says.

Sakura fixes firm almost coy emerald eyes on him and pouts cutely.

"I'm cold."

"So what."

"So, body warmth wouldn't hurt any of you."

"No."

"Stop being such a prick Uchiha, all I want is a little relief from the elements."

"Stop being such a pansy. No one else is complaining."

"I wasn't talking to you Yamanaka."

"Your banshee voice is distracting. We need to focus on our surroundings."

I suppress a groan, Ino and Sakura don't waste any chance given to argue. Sasuke shares my opinion bluntly telling them to shut the fuck up or go sit inside the blazer.

It works for about five minutes until Ino comments on the weather and Sakura turns the observation into a complaint.

"Sakura, if you can't stand it then why the hell are you out here?" I growl. She frowns at me.

"Maybe I was protecting your chastity." She simpers. My breath stutters, a blush stains my cheeks and I pointedly avoid looking in Sasuke's direction as I'm reminded of one of the most embarrassing moments in my life. Waking up in the blue glow of a blank television sprawled over Sasuke's (warm hard comfortable) body to a giggling Sakura. She made a few lewd comments when Sasuke's dark eyes flew open still slightly dulled over by sleep, he was awake in seconds and I couldn't get out of that room fast enough.

I realize, I haven't really thought about why I'm so reluctant to be in a relationship with Sasuke... other than the fact that he's a bastard who can't keep his hands to himself. I'd never figured I'd be attracted to another male... honestly I never really thought about having anything other than a friendly relationship with anyone... even members of the opposite sex.

Ah... am I _attracted_ to Sasuke? Well, he's not bad looking...

I'll leave that thought unfinished, mostly because as soon as that formed in my mind, a multitude of foreign feelings build up protesting such a tame description of Uchiha Sasuke's general appeal.

Right around here in my thought process do I realize I'm falling forwards. Black clothed arms encircle me preventing my face from meeting the metal side of the truck and Sasuke jerks me up into his lap.

"Not paying attention, eh Moron." He mutters right in my ear, a shiver I can't suppress has him chuckling against my back, and the scene in front of me shifts for a millisecond from the cold pale light of the dawning present to the soft glow of the setting sun and the warm humid air of mom's funeral. My dad sings the songs she used to love and they rumble through his chest comfortingly reverberating as we sway back and forth, the taste of rain and sweat heavy on my tongue.

I blink back to the present; I'm a lot warmer in Sasuke's arms than I was sitting by myself. And this is the_ only_ reason I'm still perched in his lap enfolded in his arms when we stop at a decrepit gas station.

"Naruto, Sasuke, save it for later." Kakashi slams the blazer door shut, his breath perceptibly clouding the air, preoccupied with examining the frost glistening doors to the gas station even as he halfheartedly scolds us. If it weren't so cold my face would probably be in flames. I frown at Sasuke's self satisfied smirk and hop out of his arms onto the ground with a crunch under the boots I borrowed from Lee.

"Go around back, take Sasuke with you. See if there's another way in that won't involve us breaking the glass and potentially setting off alarms."

...Evil Jerk, he would pair me with Sasuke.

* * *

Gaara's POV 

The world as it is I prefer over the overpopulated one of a few months ago.

And thankfully Sakura is one of the few existences I can be around for extended periods of time without wishing bodily harm on.

Not through lack of trying to annoy me, she's very good at getting under my skin, manipulating the consequences to provide her with just enough wiggle room to escape my wrath. Ah I'm making it sound as though I'm some badass, prone to murder the annoying at the slightest provocation.

..._Nah_.

I've yet to _intentionally_ destroy a sentient being in my life.

This group, these survivors we've met up with, they're smart, concise, though they don't take action without thought. They haven't lost any of their number since the chaotic first weeks of mass infection.

We didn't read to much into it. Everyone's lost someone, actually, that's the main driving force behind my actions. I'm looking for my siblings. They are the most important thing to me, always have been. With a sadistic abusive bastard of a father and a weak willed mother, my two older siblings were the only anchor I had on life when I was young. I _have_ to find them.

For whatever reason these people have for not settling down and defending a building from the infected, it's none of my concern.

The fact that we met them in military housing full of bodies that were dead for no reason hasn't seemed to deter Sakura from falling in comfortably with them. She's already cracking jokes and acting normal. She has an inert talent for that though. Blending in, growing on people without them realizing til it's too late.

A large part of the reason she and I get along so well. I never saw her coming.

That neighborhood, this whole town, it's _wrong_. I can't shake this feeling that we're being watched by intelligent eyes. The infected I can handle easily. But this place is quiet, clean, _monitored_. There are no cars littering the streets, no wrecks lining the highways. Where are the cars? Parked in their respective homes.

Where are the bodies? Laying peacefully in their homes, dead in their beds. Where are the fires? The explosions?

I know I'm not the only one who's feeling the messed up vibes from this place. The pale man sitting quietly behind me, Uchiha Itachi, his dark gaze never leaves the window. Kakashi is stiff in his seat, fingers twitching occasionally against the butt of his shotgun laying innocently across his lap.

The fact that they're agitated about the situation sets my mind at ease about them somewhat. It was just, a little suspicious meeting them in such a strange unprecedented setting. And the way Kakashi had melted soundlessly out of the dark and warned us from breaking that trip wire the first time we met made for one hell of an intimidating first impression.

Probably what he was going for, if the roguish grin in his eyes was anything to go by.

My thoughts are interrupted by a crackle from the CB radio. Lee's voice brings our attention to the Hospital we're driving up on. I have plenty of room for more supplies in the back despite the gallons of fluid sloshing around at every bump, we siphoned enough gas from that Gas stations reserves to last between our cars for a little over two weeks if we're smart.

Naruto, the petite blue eyed blonde rejoiced over the stash of redbull we pulled from the place. He went on about calorie ingestion and how it was important to stay energized. Then he and Sasuke bickered over something random and I stopped paying attention.

Sakura has a thing for the other blue eyed blonde haired individual in the group. She'll deny it, but I know her.

"Pull in here, under that awning." Kakashi directed to the emergency entrance.

"It's starting to snow again, I'd rather not have to take the time to clear off the windows if anything goes wrong and we have to pull out of here in a hurry." I blink my understanding and twist the wheel to pull up beside Lee's truck. Naruto hops out the back and flashes a grin at us through the window, he's followed by Sasuke who places a restraining hand against Naruto's shoulder. I sigh and key off the ignition, opening the door the cold creeps in and I tense against it as I step out of the blazer. I stand maybe half an inch taller than Sasuke, he and his older brother's builds are broader than mine. Probably have more muscle on them. Then there's Lee and Naruto. Lee, his build and height are pretty average. He has strong shoulders, good facial features, he'd look better if he worked out a little more. Standing back to back, he'd rise to my nose. Naruto, on the other hand, short as Ino, compact lithe build, not feminine at first glance, you can tell he's obviously a guy, facial features are... cute, rounded somewhat. Big blue eyes shining golden blonde hair. Whisker tattoos across his face...

Are we sure this kids not a tomboyish cross dresser? Or maybe a cat hybrid, Neko boy.

I raise an eyebrow at that thought. Then realize I've been staring at Naruto all through Kakashi's plan-of-action talk.

Wanna know how I realize? Sasuke Uchiha's glare could melt steel.

I blink at Sasuke's ferocious soundless snarl and slowly direct my gaze at Kakashi. Well, I don't think anyone has any question on which the dominant one in a relationship between those two would be.

Naruto, oblivious Naruto, bounces on the balls of his feet grin lighting up his staggering sapphire eyes in the white surrounding us, drags a still fuming Sasuke to the glass doors and gives an experimental nudge to one. It opens and I swear he could pass out with the amount of jubilance he displays at this simple stupid accomplishment. What the fuck is this kid on?

"Gaara." Itachi tugs my attention away from the weird child. I stare unblinkingly as he fills me in.

"We're here mainly for information, patient records before and after mass infection. Why I never thought to do this before I'll never know."

_Why you never thought to do this before_, probably had something to do with the fact that people were panicking. Survival leaves room for little else in the mind, least of which why the hell the shit hit the fan in the first place.

"-Kakashi Lee and Iruka will stay out here and watch for infected. You, me, Sasuke and Naruto will be venturing inside, _We_-" he flicked his index finger back and forth indicating him and me "-will be looking for the records room and _They_ will be scavenging for anything that might be useful later on." Here he motions at the handgun tucked in my waistband.

"Stay alert, that weapon's not just for show right?" he said this dismissively then turned on his heel and stalked after his brother and Naruto without another word.

I'm rather annoyed.

* * *

_Yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking... Yuri? Really? ... maybe. _

_Gah! I wanted to make this chapter a little longer, but I haven't updated in over a week I think...R&R Please and thank you._


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: ** That was an absolutely lovely amount of reviews from the last chapters. I loved the encouragement. It is most appreciated. The lateness of this chapter is rather obscene; I hope you guys haven't given up on me.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Warnings: **lame humor, cussing. tad bit of fluff.**  
**

-Chapter 12 Naruto POV-

_Inside no sadness, for a prowl - There's nothing new in dying now - Let's have no sadness, furrowed brow_  
_There's nothing new in dying now – It was written in blood, Bring me the horizon._

* * *

We stand in silence for a moment. Observe the room and smell the air. Phew.

"..."

"Man, it must suck sleeping here in the dark, really uncomfortable. It kinda smells... like somebody cleans with too much bleach."

"Moron. Pay attention to what we're doing."

"Bastard." I reply in the exact same tone, and then I trip him as he walks by. He spins while he plummets forward and snatches my fingers, I yelp as he unmercifully drags me to the tiled floor with him. The heavy rifle fell from my hands and thudded bluntly against the floor as we rolled around for a while, smashing against sturdy plastic beds and metal stands, trying to pin the other while grunting and scratching. Then he twists my arm around my back and it feels like if he pushes it any further against my back the bone will pop right out of the socket.

I freeze. He grins up at me. I'm straddling his stomach right on top of him, but he's got the upper hand. I scowl at him and kind of want to head-butt him in the face.

"That wasn't very smart Na-ru-to." He says softly while leaning up enough that every word causes a puff of his breath to blow against my mouth. I tighten my lips against the sensation and lift the corner of my mouth exposing my canines. An odd warmth pools in my stomach like heated coals. The hand clamped around my arm holding it against my back pushes a little and I wince and whine. Sasuke's grin fades and his eyes blink at mine, when did his face get so close? The pressure against the arm twisted against my back grows and I yelp and flinch forward away from Sasuke's hand.

He chuckles and I blink at him furiously.

"Let go bastard! This really hurts, what if there are zombies in here huh?"

"You should have thought of that before you tried to trip me moron."

"You deserved it! You keep calling me a moron!"

"You keep acting like one."

"I don't!"

A clattering of object against object had us both jerking our attention to the other side of the vast white room. We weren't alone.

Your average action movie's got it wrong. When guns go off right next to most actor's faces in a movie, why don't they flinch or scrunch their eyes up or react like an excruciatingly loud sudden POP just tried to destroy their inner ear? They stand tall or crouch gracefully and look macho or pretty or suave or sexy or roguishly dusty and just fire rounds... this is unconvincing unrealistic acting, I think.

Most guns are freaking loud, earplugs are preferable. Especially in a cavernous white room with lots of random metal machinery hanging off the wall and almost no convenient sound dampening objects.

While I was scrambling for the gun Sasuke was already on his feet, I'm not sure what he did exactly. I heard a clatter of metal objects bumping against each other then a dull crunch which raised my hair on end and finally my fingers closed around the butt end of the rifle and I was swinging the business end around in the direction of the noise.

It only took two or three shots, the zombie in stained scrubs crashed noisily face first into a tray of metal hospital things.

I lower the gun and wince at the bruise pulsing on my shoulder. Sasuke steps over and grabs my hand, pulling me to my feet.

We're both breathing a little faster; Sasuke's hand is shaking slightly against mine. I swallow quietly and scan the room.

"We should get one of those beds with wheels to load stuff on." I mumble after a few minutes of just breathing.

"A hospital gurney." Sasuke mutters. Neither of us move. I moisten my lips with my tongue and blink at a dimly lit corridor leading from this room.

"That way?"

He turns his head to the hallway in question.

"Whatever."

...can't argue with that logic.

I push open the swinging door and carefully step into the dark hallway. Sasuke's right behind me, a glance behind and I realize he's as spooked as I am. His dark eyes are narrowed, his lips are pulled back just enough to bare a glimpse of glittering stark white teeth, his normal pale complexion is ghostly white in the dark and the pitch black hair framing his face makes the image stand out even more so.

"Damn Sasuke. You'd make one terrifying Zombie." He blinks at me, comprehension dawning slowly.

"Think about it, we're creeping around some dark creepy dark place and suddenly you step from around a corner, your pasty face all spastic twitches and glowing in the dark." I snicker.

"Moron. Shut the fuck up." One side of my mouth barely trembles with the urge to let loose a pathetic whine/giggle but I manage to quell the urge and just grin at him. He raises a brow and nudges my back forward. I turn back around and take a few deep breathes.

The air surrounding us is stale. Despite the zombie in the other room's appearance, I can't smell or see blood, just a messy hallway. The ground is littered with sheets and clear plastic wrappings. Small pill bottles roll around rattling slightly. I bend over and pick one up, blinking at the jumble of letters printed across the label I frown and toss it behind me.

"Hospital lingo is irritating."

"We can pick up medication at a drug store Moron. Things will be labeled better there. We're looking for things we're less likely to find somewhere else." I blink at him and nod. Duh, Focus! I take a few calming breathes and wade almost soundlessly through the trash littered hallway to the nearest door. I peek around the metal frame and slowly push the heavy door open. The room is carpeted with debris like the hallway but it's vacant of zombies. I exhale my relief and creep through the door. Sasuke soundlessly follows behind me. His hand barely brushes against the back of my arm and it sends a shiver that raises the hairs along the back of my neck. I subtly rub the sensation from my neck and step away from the only other heat source in the cold vacant room.

"Who did Sakura go with? Kakashi didn't say anything about what the girls would do did he...?" Sasuke sighed in a manner that suggested annoyance.

"Sakura and Ino are taking stock of our supplies so we'll know what we need when we're done here.-assuming we don't run out of room." He muttered. I glance over to the metal table on the far side of the room.

I frown and take a hesitant step toward the table only to have Sasuke grip my bicep firmly.

I turn, frowning at him only to blink at the frustration I see in his face. He opens his mouth, then shuts it, then opens it again.

"Ya gonna stand there all day Sas, or can we get moving?" Sasuke shut his mouth tightly and frowns before taking a deep breathe and saying.

"Shut up for a moment and listen to me." I blink. He takes it as a go ahead and goes ahead...

"We...-" he exhales through gritted teeth and closes his eyes.

"You, you could have been bitten back there. Or I could have, we could have died." I raise an eyebrow.

Sasuke. is having priority issues. I suppose I never though of Sasuke as the type of person to freak out after close encounters.

"We can freak ourselves out over close encounters with the zombies when we are safe and out of zombie infested hospitals. Now is not the time-"

"Naruto."

His voice is soft, quiet in a way that cuts through noise like a shot. I stare at him, mouth still forming words but my vocal cords seemed to have crashed. System Error.

His eyes are dark and steady on mine, he waits til my mouth closes, then slowly brushes his hands over the sides of my neck til his palms are hovering over my cheekbones. The touches feather light against my skin have me unconsciously leaning closer to him, I find myself lulled to calm, waiting for whatever his next move will be.

"Naruto..." he says again, voice a decibel above a whisper, I don't bother fighting to repress the shiver it sent through me.

"You are, unprecedented." Sasuke tenderly sweeps a thumb across my bottom lip, eyes steady on mine. I slowly frown.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I manage to mutter, even though my throat is tight and my body seems intent on staying put. His dark eyes glimmer in the musty room and he chuckles.

"I'll look at you however I want to moron." I grimace at the insult even as he leans forward and his forehead brushes against mine. Countless seconds go by where all I can bring myself to do in protest of his blatant face space invasion is press my forehead firmly against his and slant my face away from him. He seemed content to just stand here, but then he takes a step forward, and I take a step back.

I shift my face farther from his and try to move from his path only to realize his arms are wrapped around my waist. I frown down at them, but decide they aren't really a problem yet and focus on taking steps back for every step Sasuke moves forward.

This goes on until my back meets the wall and I arch forward somewhat from the cold surface. Sasuke's final step places him leaning right over me. Looking down at me, I glare up at him.

I wish, I was a hobbit. Then being so short wouldn't be so bad. Probably. Hell, I'd have a valid excuse.

'Why so short?' - 'Hobbit genes, man.'

"It's almost insulting how distracted you are with me right in your face. If I didn't know better I'd be quite annoyed with you." Sasuke cocked his head to the side.

"They're taking the hobbits to Isengard." I muttered, then shoved his arms from me and walked back to the door. The tune's stuck in my head now, I can't help but start humming it lowly.

Sasuke takes a deep breathe behind me and whirls around, I expect an angry, or really annoyed face...he's smirking.

"You probably have a brain deficiency Naruto. We should get bar-nurse girl to look at that."

Bar-nurse girl?

* * *

_Jiraiya POV (Gasp)_

"Time's running out, Damnit. They've found him." Relax.

"Are you listening to me Jiraiya? Did you fucking hear me? They- have- found- him." Heart rate increases juuust a tad.

"Jiraiya! You either answer your GODSDAMNED PHONE OR I'LL-" That's far enough. I click the headset on and answer.

"Woman."

"Don'joo-fuckingWOMAN!meyoulittleshit! Answer on the first fucking ring you effin MORON! I did not make this line accessible to you for you to IGNORE me when I FUCKING CALL YOU!"

"So they found the chibi-Brat." I reply in a business like tone.

"YES."

"Well, then I suppose I should pay them a visit and eeh, lets say... kidnap the brat and hide him in safety."

"That's not good enough anymore." Succinct. "They were last seen in one of Orochimaru's suicide grids, 5-D I think... Kisame is keeping an eye on Naruto, he can stall the actual capture, but not for much longer. Hurry Jiraiya."

How depressing. I'll lighten the mood.

"What are you wearing?" the nudge nudge, wink wink is implied in my tone.

Click.

Ah, she hung up on me.

That's somewhat sobering. Speaking of sober, I detected a slur in her speech. Maybe after all this is finally over… well, let's not count the chickens before they lay eggs... or something along those lines.

Turn off, here's a good road. Let's see, I left the brat with Kakashi and that was almost four weeks ago.

So, this seems rather climactic. Maybe we're near the end. That'd be nice, I could really use a vacation.

* * *

_Aaah a short chapter. There's going to be a lot of plot in the next chapter though, so it'll be fairly long. ^_^ Please review and tell me what you think. Sorry for the lengthy absence._


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **Somewhat long chapter. Sorry for the wait. No this fic is in no way dead. I am almost at 100 reviews... oh my god. I am so... immensely happy with the feedback I get. I haven't gotten a single flaming review, nothing but happy encouragement and a few epic concrits. So thank you, reviewers. Thank you for staying with me for this.

Ah, and next month is NaNoWriMo. And yes, I'll be participating. Don't know what it is? Google it. Don't feel like googling it? Well It means that there will be no November Update on this story.

Thank you again for the reviews!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Warnings: ** Offensive language (cussing)... eh.

* * *

_**Chapter 13 Kisame's POV**_

_This is what happened when love met destruction_  
_ Life for life_

_ If I die before I wake_  
_ You'll have your fucking soul to take - When love met Destruction - Motionless in White_

_**

* * *

**_

"Sir, we're in position, awaiting your order."

It's infinitesimal, yet I can feel my pulse beat against my throat easily. It's begun to eerily resemble snakes constricting, slowly drawing tighter around my neck.

I blink slowly in the suffocating whiteness and tilt my head to the left, easing the dark glassed building into my line of sight.

My heart beat's steadying again, I can feel it, behind my concentration, behind the present. The annoyance, the shame broils up through invisible veins til it hits the wall of my resolve in the now. It's raging against it, hopeful to win against my pride this time. To make me choke against the thoughtless orders and break, make the mistake they're waiting to call me on. To question my loyalty... all in good time, but not this time.

"Get 'em." the air around me provides the only proof, those damning words I've already spoken into the mic. Warm breath bursts into white clouds in the space in front of my eyes and I close them against the sight and wait.

There'll be time for feeling when this all ends. There ain't no place for it here.

Me and one other sit out behind this building in the white. Snow started falling again thirteen minutes ago, that's ten minutes before I gave the go ahead. We sit draped in appropriately white camo and wait for the three men inside. Two men scaled the target building's roof and are keepin' an eye on the civies (1) below.

We're breathing in biting cold, Dei's complaining in his mind, I can see it in the glimmer of his good eye, in the restless way he doesn't move.

I'll be audience to a bitching out when we get back in where it's warm. And then when we're alone, he'll look at me and ask me why.

Dei smirks at me from under his gas mask, like he knows what's coming too. The tufts of blonde hair sprouting from underneath his helmet make him look like a scruffy bum wearing a gas mask.

He wasn't raised to this, made up to order around the way some of the guys are. We found him slicing up infected in Australia, he's somewhat sick in the head. Tying twitching bodies of once upon a time humans to sticks of dynamite, then cutting 'em loose and watchin' 'em run til the fuse run out. Then boom. Showers of fancy, he calls 'em. Hasn't explained why.

I saw him, before he went into the building with the youngest Uchiha. Looks just like his father, looks just like his mother. Eyes bluer than the flowers that grew up in my daughter's garden, he bounced around his makeshift family and grinned like the world wasn't out to get him.

'He's livin', ain't he Kisame?' Dei had asked in a whisper.

If he'd put it any truer I'd have lost all resolve and fucked up the whole mission before it even started.

"Sir..." The wary hail from the ear piece, Dei shifts his weight on crouched legs. Blonde eyebrows furrow as he glances back around the building and watches the hospital's employee side entrance.

"What's your status?" I mutter through the mic.

There was some noise resembling static, hesitance.

"Requesting confirmation of target's last location, Sir." Dei turns a raised brow on me. I blink and my jaw tightens unconsciously.

"He _is _in that Hospital. You _will_ find him. The carriers outside haven't moved." Dei subtly begins gathering his shit together, he clips his SMG to his shoulder and contacts the two snipers on the roof.

"Sir, we've been all over this floor, there is no one here." A different voice, more gravel with age rumbles in my ear piece.

Dei pauses in his movements and looks up at me from under his eyelashes. I can already hear his broad aussie accent in my head made for that look, _Lets get movin', un._

"Maintain position, we're oscar mike to your location." (2)

"Affirmative."

Dei catches my eyes and motions up with two fingers, motions that the snipers understand that they are to provide overhead cover and tactical consult to us on the ground. I nod, and then we're moving, crouched low in the snow, we shuffle to the hospital employee entrance and slip into the dark.

It's all shadows and clutter inside. Keeping in mind Dei's accursed clumsyness, we pause a few seconds for our eyes to adjust, then hug the wall(3) with our weapons relaxed in our hands. Coordinate with the three stationed inside via the mics til we're at their location. Takes us a good minute and a half.

Dei and Hidan exchange looks when they meet up. Dei's shit faced smirk coupled with Hidan's natural ability to annoy the living fuck out of me have earned them quite a few unnecessary training sessions, but their team work is nothing short of perfect. Those two have the ability to read each others intent, emotions at a glance.

Creepy.

Hidan's older brother, Kakuzu, crouches against the wall, eyes intent on the double doors down at the far end of the hall. He _knows... _something. I'll have to have words with him. His gunmetal grey eyes shift to meet mine and I nod to the empty examination room behind us.

"Keep quite, stay frosty.(4) Stupid fucking kids." Kakuzu mutters at an already snickering Dei. Hidan's mouth twitches into a grin.

I hold the door open for Kakuzu, he slides in and I crack the door a centimeter from closing shut.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say those two shit heads are getting stupider by the hour." Kakuzu growls from across the room. He peers out the shuttered window through a crack and turns grim faced to me.

"I'd also say, Orochimaru sent a team before us to snatch the kid." The words are hardly out of his mouth before the implications swamp my mind. I close my eyes to concentrate and shift through all the suspicion and fear. Have to get a hold on this, panicking ain't the way to do it.

"Woah wait what? Then why the fuck even send us out?" Hidan whispers enraged through the door.

"Good question, un." Dei's face appears next to Hidan's, canines bared in a feral grin.

"Stay in the hall and keep a look out, you runty twats!" Kakuzu hisses. Both eaves droppers swing out of sight. I shift my weight to lean out the door frame, take a quick glance around the hall, then shut the door completely.

"Zetsu, he isn't...?" Kakuzu asks, I frown. The other man in this task squad standing dutifully out in the hall. Can't read that guy, quiet, doesn't cause trouble or question orders, he could be snitching to _Danzo_ for all we know.

I shake my head and shrug. Kakuzu leans his head back and examines the ceiling.

"So. Maybe it wasn't Orochimaru."

"...You're thinking too much."

"Being prepared ain't a shameful thing."

"..." there's no reply I can think of to that. Wish I knew exactly what to prepare for though. Kid's not here. Does that mean Tsunade got her contact to smuggle the kid out of here before we got here? Is Orochimaru playing games with us, testing our loyalties... Or is it something else entirely...

* * *

_-Itachi's POV-_

Delightful. The presence behind me sobers all thought and peaks my annoyance levels to new heights. It should be quite impossible to cast such an affect on people with out speaking or moving in a particularly obnoxious or malicious way.

He stands shoulders slouched, his sea green eyes skim blankly over another page grossly overpopulated with printed words.

Hospital spread sheets are quite tacky. I've decided. A mass of jumbled letters that you'd need a fucking map legend to understand, or a medical degree.

"Did you notice, Itachi, the recurring dates on all of these." Gaara flops a manilla folder against the desk I'm sitting on. I slit my eyes at the folder, no appropriate acknowledgment passes my lips. Gaara walks past me to scoop up another folder and flips through it.

"The patients here never missed their appointments." he continues on. Those sentences _really_ deserve some kind of inflection. I study Gaara's absorbed interest in the pages in front of him.

"Inconclusive evidence. If you are going to mention something, anything at all really, please make an effort to have it be important enough to take note of." I reply, equally inflection-less.

Gaara's foam green eyes meet mine, emotionless. (surprise, surprise)

"It may provide insight on any amount of scenarios." he says, eyes still on mine but his attention edges toward the back of the room.

"If we had the time to regard every bit of evidence present, well, we don't, so let's not get hung up on _every_ clever little tangent. We know what we're here to look for, lets focus on that Gaara." I stand and drop the pages of useless words in my hands onto the growing stack of information we've deemed unimportant.

Gaara walks to the back of the room and tugs on the handles of the filing boxes sitting darkly against the wall. I observe his useless tugging, then walk around the main desk and slide open the drawers til the familiar jangle of keys condemns their presence to my searching eyes. (5)

I flick a the flimsy paper covering aside and I'm met with the satisfying gleam of faux gold coating indented metal. Gaara's stopped his tugging and stands silently as I turn and toss the keys to him.

We're rather lucky, in a way, that this clinic was old fashioned enough that most of the patient's information was not stored electronically. I'm terrible with computers. And by that I mean to say that they are convenient enough to not be destroyed.

Gaara grunts, I hope that means he's found something.

"Here." Is that... inflection, I hear?

I turn at the _dark_ word to witness a once in a who-knows-how-long event. Gaara's pale lips are twisted into an expression of undeniable disgust.

As rare an occurrence emotion on _that_ face is, my eyes are immediately drawn to the insignia stamped across the folder clenched in Gaara's hands.

And I find myself somewhat enlightened to the nature of the medical mysteries in this place. And I wonder why I'm surprised. Because I shouldn't be.

Konohagakure.

Motionless both in thought and movement, I watch Gaara's brows furrow, darkening his eyes to a dull mottled grey green. His eyes skimming back and forth relentlessly. He casually slams the folder shut, throws it at my head, turns and rummages through the filing cabinets and dumps more folders from their depths.

I ducked under the projectile, by the way. Then turned and found the damn folder and perused it's contents myself.

Project Valkyrie. An experimental vaccine. Funded by Konohagakure, the monolith of trusted family friendly medicinal products across the US.

An exclusive trial, it said, for an exclusive town...

In norse mythology, Valkyrie were a host of beautiful female reapers, sanctioned by norse god Odin, to decide who would die in battle. They would then take their chosen to the afterlife, where the slain soldiers would prepare for the Ragnarok. The foretold submersion...among other things.

"We have a name for this madness then." I mutter. Gaara grunts again. Quite unnecessary, as I did not require nor desire a reply to my whimsical comment.

"It details the effects here. I do not understand most of it. But I recognize... it says Nano machines are grown inside the body, to strengthen the immune system, strengthen organs. Promises a longer life span..." Gaara's dead voice grinds to a halt. He sighs noiselessly and tosses the folder he'd been reading onto the desk then slumps back against the file cabinets.

I blink distractedly at the folder sitting innocently on the desk top, steadying my thoughts into columns of data, waiting for the correct alignment, the sudden epiphany of understanding. It doesn't come for the minutes I stand motionless, but I know it's there.

I flow my attention back to the present, to movement, sliding the folder on the desk next to the one in my hand. Gaara watches me with aimless eyes.

"We've found what we need. Lets go back."

He closes his eyes when I speak. I wait, and watch him gather himself. When he's standing straight and tall I incline my head to meet his opening clear eyes.

He nods, I turn and we walk out the door.

* * *

He knew he was cold. And how much he should hurt. How heavy his body had gotten, preventing him from doing a thing about it. A blindfold? Is that why it's so dark? Oh, he realized, his eyes were closed. How odd.

_Why would I close my eyes, I was with Naruto... my Naruto. _Eyes slide shut again. Naruto...

"_SAS-argh, No, no no! Sas? SASUKE! Y-you, You Shot Sasuke! You Bastard! You fucking Bastard! SASUKE!" _

_It_ was so... present, in Naruto's voice, almost as though he were looking straight into tear washed blue eyes. He could _hear _the terror, he could hear the tears sliding down whiskered cheeks in Naruto's voice. He didn't even have to look to know. His Naruto had been terrified.

"**Sasuke**!"Hands, so warm, grasped his side, they slid against the cloth. The grip tightened around his arm.

"Oh fuck! Is that blood, shit! Were you bitten? Where's Naruto, SASUKE Wake up! Let go of me Sakura!"

"If he's bitten he's infected! Get the fuck away!"

All these scared voices breaking into his thoughts. Sasuke mused, any emotion would be so clear, so right in Naruto, in his eyes.

Sasuke would see them all. He'd see all the emotions Naruto could feel, in his eyes, his voice.

"Move, MOVE."

Itachi. Sasuke sighed. Itachi.

Then he listened, the rhythm of pulsing blood in his ears. Sasuke smiled. It was steady, reminiscent to Itachi's steady hands.

"'ta...chi.."

"I'm here, foolish little brother."

Oh... well, Sasuke knew he'd be ok then. His annoying older brother, his steady older brother.

Naruto...

"_Let go of me-Leggofme! SASUKE!"_

"Sasuke, wait, just wait ok. You'll be alright. Can you open your eyes Sasuke?"

Sasuke opened them and looked up into Sakura's face. Her hair pulled off her neck and high on her head bunched up in an orange scrunchy.

"He's in shock." Sasuke watched Sakura's lips move, then his dark eyes trailed back up to study the orange scrunchy peeking from folds of strawberry blond and startling pink strands.

"Sasuke. Look at me." He looked at her.

"I want you to move your toes, can you do that?" Sasuke frowned at her. Sakura scowled back.

"Move your damn toes Uchiha!"

Sasuke wanted to roll his eyes, but couldn't quite remember how at the moment, so he moved his toes instead.

"Good. Now try and move your arms a little." Sasuke narrowed his eyes, it seemed for some odd reason he had to completely focus to move anything.

Was Sakura holding his arms still so he couldn't move them? He was stronger then her though, because he finally heard them slide across the floor. Self satisfied, he turned smug black eyes back on Sakura.

"Good. Now I need to know if you were shot anywhere else."

Sasuke blinked. Then he blinked again. Oh... yeah. Naruto'd been babbling about him getting shot, hadn't he... Sasuke frowned at Sakura. She glanced up and barked,

"Finally."

Lee wavered into Sasuke's direct line of sight, jaw clenched tight. He handed Sakura a duffel bag that clanked a little. Sasuke watched Sakura rummage around in the white bag til her hand retreated from it's depths holding what resembled a gleaming scalpel.

Sasuke hoped she knew he wasn't willingly going to let her anywhere close with that.

What Sasuke did not notice was in her other hand. A small package of quickclot and a bottle of peroxide.

"Behave Sasuke." Itachi's voice came from directly above him, so Sasuke quickly tilted his head back to look and promptly choked on his tongue. Hands jerked his head back down and to the side, Sasuke gasped in lungfuls of air.

"Hold. Still." Itachi growled down at him. Sasuke held still.

Sakura leant over him and poured the quickclot directly on the wound in his shoulder. Sasuke jerked when she clamped her hands over the wounds and pushed down, _hard_.

"AA-aargh!" Sasuke clenched his teeth, someone squeezed his hand. Sudden cold hit his chest and he flinched and groaned.

Sakura tore Sasuke's shirt from the wound area while keeping one palm pressed down on the wound. She paused and her breath caught when she saw the blood on the scrap of shirt she'd pulled from underneath him.

"Please..." she exhaled, eyes damp with tentative hope, then ran her fingers underneath Sasuke's shoulder to feel a bloody exit wound on his back. She almost cried then. Her eyes closed and she bit back a triumphant laugh. If the bullet had still been in his shoulder she knew his chances would plummet. But it was a through and through shot.

She inhaled a burst of cold air and looked up into Itachi's dark gleaming eyes for the first time since she'd seen Sasuke sprawled out on the floor. Since her heart had slowed time around her, made it difficult to breath.

And it was just as terrifying as she'd expected, those dark eyes pierced her right through and demanded action, demanded perfection.

But she could face them now with this hope, and his own eyes absorbed her hope and relief, and he was comforted.

Sasuke grit his teeth, his shoulder hurt! It hurt, with the sudden clarifying focused pain, and god, Naruto! Nothing was right, Naruto, and those men came out of nowhere, and Naruto had yelled for him, he'd _screamed_ for him. For Sasuke.

"Naaah, urgh, Naruto!" Sasuke coughed out, it hurt, his throat closing with the swiftness of the memory.

The sudden growth of odd shadow in front of them, then turning at the surprising trump of boots behind them and Sasuke had fallen.

He didn't remember how, all he remembered was opening his eyes and seeing the ceiling, discerning Naruto's yells amongst the clatter and thuds of distress.

"naah, ru-doo." Sasuke heard his voice groan.

"I know, it'll be ok. We'll find him." He heard Sakura mutter down at him, he felt himself become weightless, then his bare back met a smooth clothed surface.

"Sasuke, where is he?" Was the roof leaking? Then brightness, and cold, not like before, a fresh cold, a freezing cold. He was outside. They'd moved him. Sasuke gripped the hand in his.

"Sasuke's crying, why is he crying? Why are _you_ crying? WHERE'S NARUTO?" Ino was screaming.

Sasuke grit his teeth and closed his eyes. He was going to get Naruto back. Whoever the hell shot him and left him to die and took his Naruto, he was going to destroy them. And then he was going to take Naruto back. Naruto, Naruto, Naruto...

And then the pain was gone. Sasuke opened his eyes to the dark room he'd grown up calling his own.

He was back home in the mansion? Ah. Then where was Naruto. Sasuke grinned and sighed. He'd be in the kitchen.

* * *

"_Yah thirsty Sas?" _ Naruto. Yeah, I am.

"_Okay... you're not thirsty, I get it, don't go all evil eye on me."_ I blink and frown at him.

"_Sasuke, why do you look like you're currently digesting something prickly?"_

He giggles.

Then tilts his head back and laughs. I examine that pale stretch of skin and breath.

"Ya know, Naruto."

He stops laughing and stares at me, blue eyes shining.

"I'm rather hungry too. "

He blinks, confused. Then glances around the kitchen, then back at me, and quirks an eyebrow.

How convenient that we're in a kitchen, he seems to say.

"Very convenient." I agree and push him against the fridge. His lips smile against mine, blue eyes still gloriously open, they meet mine as he nibbles at my lower lip. I smirk and trace his spine down to the waist of his pants, then run my hands up his warm back under his shirt. He arches into me and closes his eyes, focusing on my hands.

Barely touching his parted lips to mine he exhales a small puff of air that wafts against my lips. My eyes drift shut against such stimulation. I firmly press my lips against his. His hands clench against my shoulders and a trickle of cool moisture meets my cheek. I flinch and open my eyes only to drown in twin azure skys.

"Naru..to?" I murmer. Another tears spills over and he gasps against me.

"_I wondered when I'd be forced to see you cry." _

_**TBC...**  
_

_

* * *

_

**1**,_ Civies- Civilians._

**2**,_ Oscar mike- On the move._

**3**_- __Hugging the wall means they are moving along the wall as close as they can. They are not literally hugging walls._

**4**_Stay frosty - Stay alert and ready for trouble_

**5,**_ I effin love writing Itachi because I can write sentences like that and have it be moderately appropriate for his character. And I laugh and laugh later on when I'm proof reading and I get to read that little gem of nigh malicious nonsense. In my opinion, it's often those kinds of sentences that make a story worth reading._

_Ok! another chapter done. Finally. _


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **holy effin crow this is late... you'd think after the reviews I got last month I'd manage to update a little faster... I'm sooo sorry readers. You definitely deserved an update. I wanted to. But for some reason writing this chapter was like pulling teeth.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Warnings: ** Offensive language (cussing)

* * *

_**Chapter 14 Orochimaru Pov**_

There is a silence that stills movement, displacing the familiar comfort my pristine lab would usually bring.

The chair under me is hard and uncooperative. My spine presses against the unrelenting plastic. I could do worse than to sit straight to relieve the ache. It would logically bring about few advantages, better blood flow, for one, perhaps it would clear my mind and I'd better be able to cope with the present situation. It would also help with the head ache building behind my eyes.

I lean back against the chair instead of slouching over my knees. It does not help with my back or my head ache, but my neck pains me less.

The phone still hangs from it's cradle. Kisame's still on the other end, waiting for further commands.

I'm at something of a loss for words here. Strands of black fall around my face, I close my eyes and clench my teeth.

Fury, indignation. These emotions are disruptive and in the way. I have to clear my mind of these emotions and think clearly.

Uzumaki is missing.

I rub my eyes and frown at the ceiling.

Kisame just briefed me, a joint report from the members of his task force sent to relocate Kushina's brat.

The men on the roof report the younger Uchiha had been brought from the hospital incapacitated. Supposedly shot through the shoulder. Upon investigating the scene, the conclusion was drawn that Naruto Uzumaki was abducted by an unknown party.

Someone with the ability to remain undetected from my own team. This also brings to mind the fact that this happened right under their noses.

There is no real doubting their abilities, the large number of successes they've had in previous field missions nulls such questions of inability...

There are larger concerns to ponder at the moment. Was it Tsunade? Where did she get the resources to pull a stunt like this off? Is there a mole in my team?

And, of course... I'm contemplating the real suspicion. Danzo.

...What the hell are you planning?

He had no knowledge of what this boy would mean to us. The goals I'd reach with samples from that brat... the tests I itched to conduct on him... How would the kyuubi organism react if I were to infect it's host?

There is no use musing over this, I had the answers in my grasp and an astounding lack of competence shattered this chance. But all is not lost.

Perhaps, if it is Danzo who stole the boy from me, I can make a trade. Something Danzo wants, for what I want. But first, I have to make absolute certain it is Danzo.

But who else would it be? There aren't any other organized facilities in existence. We're all that's left.

I hunch over my knees again and reach for the phone, intent on berating Kisame for his unprecedented lack of vigilance.

* * *

Sasuke stares at the water stained ceiling. His shoulder hurts like a fucking hot iron is being shoved through it.

Likewise his anger burns, fierce, molten in his stomach. He can't sleep. He can't move his body at the moment. His thoughts burn fiery trails through his mind, fueling the fury tightening his jaw.

_Naruto. _

The name makes up every other word of every other thought. He exhales shakily at the scalding burning in his eyes. Almost spilling over again.

He comprehends now in this moment of after, how much he truly wants Naruto back.

The blindingly oblivious adorable lighthearted existence.

It's frightening, the pain his heart thumps through him alongside the ache in his shoulder. This complete surrender of control, he hadn't even realized how much he'd relaxed around Naruto til he thought back on the time they spent together.

He tries to think rationally about this, why he's in so much emotional pain because Naruto was taken. And he finds his mind utterly blank of a credible excuse. There isn't a reason in the world he should be suffering so much for the lovely boy/man he'd only know for a little under a month.

He doesn't understand.

So he won't dwell on the why.

"Sasuke." Itachi's voice is sudden in the dark, Sasuke blinks as his mind settles on the room around him. He turns bloodshot eyes to his brothers pale face.

Itachi stands in the dim glow from the doorway and grey eyes are unfamiliar with a terrible softness. Itachi moves slowly across the room, his hands rest at his sides as he stares down at his little brother. Sasuke can see what no one else would in his older brother, the hesitant heartrending sadness.

He absently realizes Itachi hadn't reacted this way when their father had died. He rolls his head to face his brother.

"Did you ever love father 'tachi?" Sasuke murmurs.

Itachi jerks to a stop beside Sasuke's bed. His eyebrows furrow as he halfheartedly glares down at the thin covers over his brothers body.

"There are, limits... to what father allowed me to feel for him. And words to describe the peaks of those limits exactly." Itachi blinked and narrowed his eyes, searching for appropriate words.

"_Love_... was too frivolous a term, too broad and certainly not concise enough a feeling to assign to what I felt for him." Itachi sits down on Sasuke's bed and rests a warm hand on his brothers torso.

"No, little brother. I cannot remember ever loving father the way I love you or the way I loved our mother."

The answer placates Sasuke's wandering curiosity. He turns his face away and breathes out lowly.

"I think I loved Naruto. I don't know how, I think I fucking loved him. Honest to god. How?"

He blinks at the ceiling and ponders. Itachi digests the slurred words, the inflection soft and scared. Itachi raises one hand to his forehead and pressures his brow.

Sasuke deduces steadily that he is drugged stupid as the silence drags on. Itachi will laugh at him for saying these things. Then he'll condescendingly respond that Sasuke lacks the proper capabilities to love another human being.

Sasuke frowns, finding himself furious with his brother before Itachi has even spoken a word.

"I know... little brother."

And just like that, the anger is snuffed so quickly Sasuke's mind frantically backtracks to keep up.

He can only stare curiously at his older brother as Itachi leans back on the bed beside him.

"I saw. Your face. The easy way you regarded him, talked to him. Your heart is set on that boy, within minutes of meeting him I think you wanted to love him. I've been beside you your entire life and I've never witnessed the emotional leakage you display around him."

Sasuke's throat is stiff with Itachi's calm affirmation. He fights to calm the emotions brewing up through his eyes.

"Emotional... Leakage... if I was hungry, I think that would make me lose my appetite. Where the hell do you come up with this shit?"

Itachi laughs. Sasuke's too out of it to really notice his brother's absent reservation.

"The same place that Naruto finds his dialogue." Itachi mutters, his eyes light and his throat tight.

Sasuke sighs and closes his eyes.

"I'm getting him back, I don't know who the fuck took him. But I'm getting him back Itachi."

Sasuke fell asleep murmuring those words. Itachi stared at the wall over Sasuke's head, his eyes curiously blank.

"I know little brother."

* * *

_Naruto POV_

I try to shift hands bound tightly behind my back, grunting slightly with the effort. My torso is pressed against cold metal. I'm lying on my face in the back of a vehicle. There's a boot resting heavily on my back. Weighing me down. It's COLD! Dammit! Cold air, and this stupid fucking cloth bag over my face.

I've thought about why they haven't drugged me or whatever...don't kidnappers usually drug their victims into compliance or something... do I really wanna be awake for what ever will happen when we get to where we're going?

I suppress a shiver. It really is cold.

My eyes close underneath the bag. It's dark.

Sasuke had gone down hard. I watched him fall in that dark hospital hallway.

It started so suddenly, the only warning we had was the clump of foot steps behind us. I could barely make out a mass of huddled armored forms heading straight for us. For a moment I'd thought they were SWAT team zombies for their black body armor and the single minded way they moved.

I'd raised my rifle and waited to see their sallow yellow eyes, hear the eager howls the dead intent on our flesh should make.

I watched them get closer, other than the trump of their boot steps they didn't make a sound. Their faces were black, their eyes plastic black goggles glinting in the dim light.

I called out to them uncertainly. In the few seconds when the noise was vibrating in my throat a flash lit the darkness, a shot tore away my words from coherency.

I blinked rapidly, stumbling back the rifle slipped out of my fingers. It banged and clattered against the linoleum. My mind registered the gunshot. My body didn't.

Because, I wasn't shot. My brows furrowed in confusion. My fingers curled slightly against my stomach. Dread stiffened my limbs, I turned and watched Sasuke fall. Horror choked my breathe into stillness. And deep inside everything went cold and still and silent. Waiting for Sasuke to stand back up. Waiting for him to look up at me and raise an eyebrow. Waited for the flash of annoyance to fly across his face.

None of these things happened. His face was pale against the strands of black hair that fell over his lips. I felt my face scrunch up in horrified confusion.

Large hands grabbed my upper arms and pressed my torso over my knees so quickly I almost fell over. Then they were dragging me away from Sasuke. They kept getting in the way, I couldn't see him as I was dragged back down the hallway.

I started yelling til my throat hurt and my voice was hoarse. They kept kicking my feet from underneath me. I remember struggling even harder to see if Sasuke had gotten back up until eventually someone slammed my back into the wall and a fist slammed into the side of my head. I saw stars for a moment then all was black.

Fuckers had slammed the bag down around my neck.

It was around then that I started wondering if anyone outside had heard me before. And I also realized then without a doubt that zombies were the least of my worries.

I'm fidgeting around again. The boot digs into my back until I growl at the boot's owner. I get a laugh.

This is really pissing me off. They won't answer any of my questions, the only sounds I've heard from them is a few grunts and the occasional laugh at my struggling.

What's the deal with that?

Just because they're kidnapping me doesn't mean they have to be intentionally cruel and annoying.

And what the fuck do they want me for? Ransom? What?

That is... blindingly stupid.

Ah, what was that? Just now?

It sounds suspiciously like a helicopter... and now it sounds like we're in a tunnel listening to a helicopter. Ouch. My thigh stings.

Oh... the 'drug me please' thought... huh. Kidnappers complying with the kidnap-ee's subliminal wishes, this is probably... a... first.

_

* * *

_

Naruto awoke. His eyes slit revealing a tentative blue gaze.

The world was made up of nonsense today.

A sky, Ridiculously blue above him. Naruto stares up. It's a _wrong_ blue. The clouds drifting lazily by are chipped in some places. Cracks splinter across the maddeningly nonsensical sky.

No, there aren't cracks in the sky. Naruto knows that isn't right. So what exactly is he looking at?

And what the fuck is with those chubby babies with white feathery wings staring down at him from a fluffy white cloud?

"Young man."

Naruto's breath catches in his rapidly constricting throat.

"You and your family have caused quite a bit of trouble for all of us here at Konohagakure."

A mans eyes gleam softly in the shadow of the voluminous room. He watches the small male securely strapped to the examination table take shuddering breaths.

"Who the hell are you? Why can't I move?" Naruto shrieks. He finds the babies completely unnerving.

And also he can't move. He swallows and squishes his chin to his chest examining the thick nylon straps crossing over his chest and thighs.

"SHIT!" he yells. His eye twitches as he stares aghast at his barely clothed body.

"I've been kidnapped by perverts? WHY?"

"Perverts?" the unknown man asks, walking casually over to a shelf. He slides his fingers over gleaming medical tools.

"I'm shirtless, in nothing but boxers tied down to a bed! And these boxers aren't ever mine!" Naruto tilts his head back to watch the man nervously. The room he is in is very large, an auditorium of sorts. The floor is glossy wood, making Naruto think of a ballroom. The windows are foggy at first glance, upon closer examination, he can see the walls around the windows and the glass itself is draped in plastic. Naruto frowns worried eyes at the realization.

A clank of metal and a crinkle of plastic draws Naruto's wide eyes to the man who's back is to him. The shelving the man stands near is the only other furniture besides the bed Naruto's seen in the large room.

"This room is sterile. We couldn't allow you entrance without the proper cleaning procedures. Even I have to suffer through some minor indignities to enter this room. Don't alarm yourself overmuch Naruto." The mans glasses reflect the light in a flash as he turns his head to appraise the boy.

"I'd think you'd appreciate being clean. You were quite filthy on arrival."

Naruto gapes at the man, speechless. He tries to ponder why exactly this man would think he'd appreciate anything they'd do to him. Who the hell are they and what they wanted from him?

The glasses man's eyes linger on Naruto's for a few minutes. The silence stretches til Naruto glances down at the metal items on the shelf and bites his lip.

The man has gray hair, no wrinkles and a youthful face. His glasses gleam occasionally when they catch the light. He moves confidently around the room and Naruto gets the feeling that his arrival here was expected for a while.

"You awoke far sooner than you should have. I was expecting to deal with an unconscious patient."

Naruto's heart jumps behind his chest.

"Patient?" he queries softly.

"Did you honestly expect to hear something weird, like, experiment or prisoner, Naruto?" The man chuckles, Naruto clenches his teeth and glares.

"Well, what am I then? Your guest?" he spat.

"Hm, that is a good question. Well, your life is not in any danger, for the moment. And depending on your level of cooperation, you can dwell quite comfortably in this room for the remainder of your stay in this facility. Or, so _I'm_ told."

The man pulls a drawer open and casually fingers an empty syringe.

"My name is Kabuto Yakushi, and I'll be your examiner today." He turns with a simple stretch of his mouth that Naruto's brain only registers as a smile after Kabuto starts walking towards him.

Naruto's body tenses to the point he can hardly breathe. Kabuto calmly walks closer and Naruto's voice snaps.

"Stay the fuck away from me!" The shriek spurs Naruto to jerk around in his bonds frantically. Kabuto's mouth twitches at the side.

"Calm down Naruto, I was just teasing you. My name really is Kabuto. And while you're here I really will be in charge of your health." Kabuto places the empty syringe on a medical table next to Naruto.

Naruto blinks back the black dots that form in his sight as he frantically tries to keep an eye on Kabuto.

His mind is blank, his limbs tremble against the table.

"Wow. Are you sure this is a man? He's shaking like a girl."

Naruto's blonde hair bristles much like a hedgehog at the odd sounding voice. His neck snaps back and a glare narrows his eyes at the newly discovered presence in the large room.

The male is paler than Sasuke. Naruto blinks bewildered eyes at the comparison. He bites his lower lip gently and studies the other male.

"Sai, bring the Vacutainers over here and draw Naruto's blood please. When you're finished you may release Naruto. Introduce him to his living quarters and keep him company while I bring them to the lab. He'll no doubt be a little dizzy from the amount of blood we need from him, so please make sure he doesn't fall and hurt himself." Kabuto murmurs, his eyes skim over papers he pulled from a shelf.

Sai doesn't even blink at Kabuto, his blank black eyes stray to Naruto's lips.

"Definitely not a complete male, are you Naruto? You certainly don't convey masculinity when you bite your pink little lips like that." Sai's pwn pale mouth curves up.

Naruto immediately releases his lower lip from his teeth and renews his fierce glare at Sai.

"Look you ghosty motherfucker, I'm not in the mood for your obvious jealousy over my amazingly male figure. If it bothers you that much go find some steroids or something." Naruto growls at the odd male.

"Sai." Kabuto mutters from his position over some paperwork, the pen pauses for a moment and faintly annoyed black eyes glance up at Sai.

"Of course, I apologize Sir." Sai says innocently and proceeds to pull on white plastic gloves.

He pulls a tourniquet from a drawer and casually ties it above Naruto's elbow. Naruto flinches at the direct contact and his lips thin as he watches Sai pick up a hypodermic needle. He places a few long clear test tube things on the medical table with the syringe and then smiles down at Naruto's wide eyes.

"Please be very still Naruto. This won't hurt a bit."

* * *

_I'm ending it here. Again, I'm sooo sorry! I wanted to update in December but it just didn't happen. T_T I do have more written, but that will be for the next update. Things will finally start moving along towards the end of this fic in the next chapter I think. A few more updates should do it depending on how large they are._


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